


Victoria Grimes II: Guilt

by bamby0304



Series: Victoria Grimes [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Attempted Sexual Assault, Canon Universe, Character Death, F/M, Smut, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-11 21:11:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 59,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16860379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bamby0304/pseuds/bamby0304
Summary: The CDC is gone. Vickie Grimes and the rest of the group are now left with more questions then before, and no safe place to call home. Making their way out of Atlanta and towards Fort Benning, they find more trouble then they had imagined. But how will Vickie handle Shane’s advances, keeping her parents off her back and her growing feelings for Daryl?





	1. A Herd

**VPOV**

I sat next to Daryl in his pickup, my eyes closed, my head resting back. We had been driving for a while since the CDC, following the others. My head was still reeling from my panic attack, so I kept my eyes closed to keep me from being sick. The movements of the pickup were surprisingly soothing.

I opened my eyes as we came to a stop. "What are we doing?" the first words spoken since we had started driving. We hadn't said a word about the kiss.

"I don' know." he sighed, as my dad walked towards us.

He took his hat off, leaning on the truck. "We're stopping here for a little bit. Dale thinks it would be a good idea to use less cars."

Daryl nodded in agreement. "I'll dump the truck and use the bike. It uses less fuel." with that settled, dad moved on towards Shane's jeep.

"What about me?" I asked Daryl, suddenly offended that he made a decision without me. Now I had no idea what car I'd be in and with who.

He turned to me and I couldn't read his emotions. "You should be with your family." was all he said.

Just then dad came back. "Vickie grab your things. You'll be in the RV with Dale, Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea and Shane." he informed me before walking back to the others.

I could see Daryl tense up at the mention of Shane. "You should tell Rick what happened."

I ignored him and started to open the door. I had left my bag in my room at the CDC and was left with nothing but what I had on me now, which was nothing back the clothes on my back and the knife I had taken from Daryl that first day we met.

He grabbed my wrist as I was about to get out. "I don't want you with Shane. I don't trust him. I won't be there to protect you." it was then that I saw then genuine worry he had over me.

I smiled, grabbing his hand with my free one and pulling him away from my wrist before entwining our fingers. "What else am I supposed to do? There's no room with my family, and you know they'll never agree to me being on the back of a motorcycle."

He stared for what felt like hours, I could practically see the wheels turn in his head as he tried to think of a way to fix this. But when he realised I was right he just gave a curt nod before letting me go; his facing telling me he hated this.

I headed for the RV. Suddenly Shane was walking next to me, and my good mood from Daryl evaporated into thin air. "I swear to god Shane, if you even look at me funny, I'll go straight to my father and tell him what you did to me." I told him without looking up at him, keeping my eyes locked on my family as they piled into the car with Sophia and Carol. "Then I'll let him deal with you." I smiled sweetly as we reached the RV, and got in.

"Hey." Glenn smiled from the passenger seat.

I smiled back. "How de-doo-de."

He just shook his head, grinning. "You can sit here if you want, it's a two-seater... or well we're both small and it's a big seat." he blushed slightly, shrugging.

"Hopefully you're a good map reader. Glenn's good, but a second pair of eyes wouldn't hurt." Dale added.

I shrugged before moving so I could sit on the seat with Glenn. Despite it being a large chair there still wasn't much room. I ended up having to drape a leg over his and lean on him in order for both of us to be comfortable.

"Don't get any ideas." I grinned, causing him to chuckle.

 

...

 

I groaned at the constant clicking of Shane cleaning his gun, though apparently Andrea was interested in what he was doing and started up a conversation about it... which caused me to groan more. What was worse was the fact that my head was pounding, and my stomach was turning with motion sickness. I guess it was the way I was sitting or the fact I hadn't eaten all day. But I definitely felt bad.

"You okay?" Glenn asked, obviously taking notice of my groaning.

I shook my head. "I feel sick."

That got Dale's attention. "The bathrooms free if you need it."

I nodded and stood up, making my way to the bathroom. I sat on the ground my head in my hands as I waited to see if I was going to chuck or not.

When the RV came to a stop, I gave up on waiting, and instead poked my head out the door, still sitting on the floor. "You didn't have to stop Dale." I called.

"We broke down." Shane said as he walked towards me, reaching a hand out for me to grab.

I grabbed it, still feeling sick and finding my arms a little too weak to get me off the ground. "Thanks." I mumbled, offering him a half-hearted smile before moving to the door. I didn't exactly hate Shane for everything he had done, I was just hurt and scared.

As soon as the fresh air hit my face it was like a slap. I bolted for the railing before dry heaving, hoping that something would come up to get rid of this feeling. A hand came to rest on my back, rubbing it soothingly. I was only vaguely aware that it was my mum. The other part of my brain was too worked up on trying to be sick.

"I knew the moment you had that panic attack that we should have gotten food into you." she sighed. "You always get sick if you don't eat anything after an attack."

Once I was finished, unsuccessful with actually throwing something up, I turned to her. "It would have been unfair. Plus, I was reading the map with Glenn too. I should have known better to do that. Reading always makes me sick when in a moving vehicle." I moaned.

Turning around I finally saw where we were.

We were on the highway surrounded by abandoned cars. Some were turned over. Others had been driven off the side of the road. There was even a toppled over truck.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we could find." Daryl noted as he searched through a vehicle.

T-Dog moved forward, heading out further. "I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." he stated.

"Maybe some water." Carol noted.

"Or food." Glenn added.

Mum moved uneasily next to me. "This is a graveyard." everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at her before looking at each other. "I don't know how I feel about this."

"All right, all right. Here we go." T-Dog mumbled as he walked around, not even thinking about what my mum had just said.

"Come on y'all. Just look around, gather what you can." Shane said before heading off himself.

With that everyone headed off to look around.

"Hey Vickey?" I looked over to my right to see Sophia and Carl standing close by. "Wanna look around?" Carl asked.

I nodded. "Sure. But stick close to me, okay?" I told them, earning myself a few nods before we started looking through cars.

I looked over at Daryl who had stopped looking through a car to look at me. He gave me a nod, and I smiled before turning away. I came face to face with my mum who looked between the both of us. She just gave me a knowing look before continuing her search.

"Hey look." Carl smiled as he picked up a comic book.

I rolled my eyes. "You're such a guy." Sophia laughed as we kept looking.

I looked into a car and saw some matches and a packet of smokes. Thinking of Daryl and guessing he was a smoker, I opened the door and grabbed the things before the kids could see what I grabbed; storing them in my pocket where no one could see them.

I found bag a started grabbing clothes, hoping they fit. But what I really wanted was a hair brush.

Suddenly I heard dad's frantic voice whispering for us to get under the cars.

I grabbed Sophia, pulling us under a car by the one Carl was now under. I kept her close to me, covering her mouth with my hand as I tried to keep myself calm.

I could hear the moaning from the walkers, and the scuffling of their feet. My heart raced as the noises got closer. A tear fell down my cheeks as I held a shaking Sophia to me.

Dad was under the other car next to Carl's watching us with that scared worried look he never seemed to lose. He lifted his finger to his lips, signalling for us to be quiet. I simply nodded my head and bit my lip, trying to stay calm and collected.

As time went by I could taste something metallic as my teeth drew blood from biting into my lip. I winced at the feeling, holding in any sounds of pain as I buried my face in Sophia's hair. All the while I couldn't stop worrying about Daryl. Hoping and praying that he was okay.

When the last few walkers went by I let out a sigh of relief, loosening my hold on Sophia. I rolled on to my back, letting myself breath and calm down. I could feel Sophia next to me moving, but I didn't think much of it. The moaning and scuffling had stopped, and I was sure there were no more walkers left.

Of course, I was wrong.

As soon as Sophia's head popped out from under the car I heard the groaning of a walker before Sophia screamed, shuffling back against me.

I grabbed her shirt and pulled her out to the other side, only to see another to walker at the back of the car heading for us.

"Sophia come on." I told her as I lifted her up and over the rails, the walkers following close behind.

I put Sophia down on the ground and we ran for it, heading into the woods. Sophia's cries and tears were the only things that I need in order to keep running. She was only a little girl, and her life was now my responsibility.

"Come on, Sophia. Come on." I told her as we kept running.

Suddenly I was pushed to the ground by another walker.

Sophia screamed. "Vickie!"

I struggled under the walker, trying to keep its snapping jaw off me. "Run Sophia!" I screamed at the girl. “Run!”

She bolted, and I just hoped those other two walkers were far enough to let me kill this one before I had to deal with them too.

While I struggled to keep the walker's teeth away from my skin, I reached into the back of my shorts and pulled out Daryl's knife. I had taken it off him the first time we met and for some reason I had kept it on me since then. I hadn't even thought about giving it back, and at that moment I was glad I hadn't.

Using all my strength I managed to push the walker off me, rolling us over before shoving the knife into his skull. Stabbing him over and over.

Once his snarling had silenced I leaned over it, out of breath.

I hadn't heard the other walkers that had been following us and I just hoped they had given up or gotten lost. If they had gotten to Sophia I would never forgive myself.

Pulling myself up I looked around, suddenly realising I had no idea where I was. I looked to the ground and saw two paths of foot prints. One being the way I came and the other being the way the walker came. Of course, I had no idea how to tell the two-part.

So, I took a guess and started walking down the path to my right, hoping I wasn't wrong.

**Bamby**


	2. The Beginning of a Bad Feeling

**DPOV**

I pulled the dead walker's body off T-Dog, helping him up before taking him to the RV. Dale got down from it and took one look at T-Dog before fixing him. I followed the others where I found a distraught Carol, a crying Carl and a frozen Lori.

"Those two walkers are after my baby." Carol cried in Lori's arms.

Lori held Carol to her as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Mum." Carl cried. "Mum we have to go help Vickie and Sophia."

Lori shook her head unable to talk.

"What's goin' on here?" I asked.

Shane turned to me, running a hand through his hair. "Two walkers ran after Sophia and Victoria. They ran into the woods. Rick went after them but we don't know where they went." he sighed, pacing back and forth.

Victoria. That was the one word that rang though my mind. Those walkers were after Victoria. That's all I needed before I was in action.

"Shane, Glenn. You follow me. We'll track them down and find them." I said, jumping over the railing.

**VPOV**

It didn't take me long to realise I had taken the wrong path. But once I knew I was going the wrong way, I stopped and started following the sun. Some benefits of growing up with a dad who was a police officer and had police friends, you learnt a thing or two.

For example. If I ever got lost, I knew how to find my way back just by reading the sun and where it was. Another thing was, though my mum didn't know about this one... Shane had taught me how to shoot.

I had told my parents I was going to go see a friend, when I really went to see Shane. We had met up secretly as we had been 'together' at the time, but somehow, we managed to turn our hook-up-date-thing into gun training.

When I finally managed to find my way back to the high way I wasn't near the RV so I had to walk through the cars to get to the others.

"Victoria?" I heard Dale call. I looked up, and saw him on top of the RV, which was still a distance away.

Suddenly people were rushing towards me, all of them relieved but also weary. But it was my mum who ran up to me first and threw her arms around me. Kissing my head and holding me tight.

"Oh, thank god." she cried. "I thought I'd lost you."

"What happened?" Andrea asked, looking at my clothes.

I looked down at my cream shirt to see blood all over it. "Killed a walker." was all I could say. I had killed plenty of walkers before. I mean I had been by myself longer then I had been with people. But I had never had a close call like that before. So, to say I was in shock would be just about right.

"Walker? One of the ones that followed-" Carol asked, but I cut her off.

"Another one. It caught me by surprise. I told Sophia to run." my short sentences a sign of how shocked I was.

"Another one? But-"

This time it was my mum who cut Carol short. "She's in shock. She said Sophia ran so as far as we know she's okay. Just give Victoria some space." she said before leading me to the RV.

I walked in and headed for the back, sitting on one of the beds. I looked up at my mum, feeling a tear run down my cheek even though I wasn't crying. She knelt in front of me, wiping my tears away.

"It's not your fault. You did the right thing." she gave me a half-smile, one that told me she could see what I was feeling just by looking at me. "Your father, Shane, Glenn and Daryl are out there looking for her now. So why don't you just rest and I'll go find you something to drink and eat?"

I nodded, pulling myself further up on the bed before lying down. I watched my mum leave before looking down at my shirt. The blood a brown off looking colour. But I couldn't move. Instead I just closed my eyes, praying that Sophia would be okay.

**DPOV**

"Rick?"

The three of us came to a creek, where we found Rick looking in a hole. He looked worried, more worried than usual, when he looked up. "Did you see Sophia or Victoria?"

I shook my head. "We followed your tracks. The girl's tracks were all over the place. I didn't even know what was going on." I told him, jumping down into the creek. "What's in there?"

He sighed. "I left Sophia here so I could distract the walkers and get them to follow me."

I looked in the hole. "You sure this is the spot?"

Rick stepped forward. "I left her right here." he insisted. "I drew the walkers away off in that direction up the creek." he gestured the opposite way from where we had come.

"Without a paddle...Seems where we've landed." I was trying my best to stay collected, even though I was worried sick about Victoria. I knew the moment I let myself get worked up, I'd never find her.

"She was gone by the time I got back here." Rick added as he followed me. I looked around, hoping to find some tracks. "I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her, go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." he gestured to a path near Glenn.

"Hey short round, would you step up to one side. You're muckin' up the trial." I told Glenn.

"Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane commented. I hadn't really wanted to bring him along. But he knew how to shoot, and if we got into some trouble with walkers at least I knew he could handle himself. Even if he had his eyes on Victoria...

"Shane, she understood me fine." just looking at Rick I could see the guilt eating up at him.

But Shane kept going. "Kid's tired and scared man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said actually stuck."

"Can we not forget about Victoria." Glenn spoke up. "I mean Rick didn't even see her. We don't know if she's okay or if she's-"

I pulled myself up, out of the creek and stood close to Glenn, breathing hard with anger. "Or if she's what?" I yelled. How dare he think she was dead. I could see it in his eyes that that's what he was thinking.

"Daryl." Rick got up and stood behind me. "We'll find them both."

I nodded, stepping away from Glenn. "Let's go." I told them before following Sophia's tracks.

**VPOV**

"Vickie?" I opened my eyes to see Shane kneeling by the bed, his hands fiddling with each other as he watched me with worry. Once he saw that I was awake he let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank god you’re okay."

"Sophia?" I sat up looking at him expectantly.

He sighed looking away for a moment before bringing his gaze back to me. "Rick and Daryl are still out there looking for her."

I nodded, running my hands through my messy hair. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A few hours." he reached behind him before producing a nut bar and bottle of water. "Your mum left these here for you." I nodded and took the bar, opening it and taking a bite without a word.

I could feel him watching me, waiting. When I finished the bar, I turned to him with question. "What are you looking at?"

He pointed at my shirt. "Lori told me you said something about another walker..."

I looked down at my blood-stained shirt and grimaced at the memory. "Yeah it caught me by surprise." I sighed, looking away, refusing to look at him or the shirt.

"What happened? You can tell me."

I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it. Every time I thought about the walker I remembered how I told Sophia to run. If I had of just killed the walker and gone with her, we'd both be back in the RV.

"Okay. Alright." he stood, though I still wouldn't look at him. "We can talk about it later." he sighed. "You just get some rest." he said before walking out.

I looked out the window, watching the others collect stuff or move cars to make a path. Everyone seemed to be busy at work. Everyone but Carol. She stood by the railings looking out to the woods, waiting.

I had to turn away then, hating the guilty feeling of leaving Sophia out there. It was my fault. I should have just killed the walkers and brought her back. I should have stopped her from moving out from under the car. I should have...

I looked out the window again, looking at Carol. I was just about to start crying with guilt when I saw my dad and Daryl come out from the bushes... alone.

I got off the bed, wiping the few tears that had escaped as I made my way to the door of the RV. A soon as I stepped out, I could hear them talking.

"We tracked her for a while." Daryl told Carol, and I knew then that Sophia was still missing. It was like my guilt started to double.

"We have to make this an organized effort." dad informed everyone looking around the group. I stood at the back, so I wasn't surprised when he didn't notice me. "Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this."

"Is that blood?" Carol asked, looking at Daryl. I looked at his pants to see blood. But it wasn't normal blood. It had a brownish colour to is, telling me it was walker blood.

"We took down a walker." dad answered.

"Walker? Oh, my God." Carol gasped, as she started to lose it. I could tell by looking at her that she was on the verge of crying or having a panic attack.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia or Victoria." dad reassured her, still unaware that I was back.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asked sceptically.

Dad turned to Daryl who answered. "We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure."

There was a pause and I could feel myself start to worry once more, the guilt taking over.

"Victoria's here." Glenn spoke up, moving so they could see me.

Dad took one look before rushing towards me, pulling me into his arms and kissing my head. "Oh, thank God you're alright." he sighed into my hair as he held me close.

"Dad I tried-" I started to explain so he wouldn't blame me, but he stopped me before I could finish.

He kissed my forehead holding me tighter. "You did the best you could." he let go of me and I found myself looking at Carol.

She looked at both of us. "How could you just leave her out there by herself." her words were like a stab to the heart. "How could you just leave her?"

I was unable to give a reply, but my dad tried to explain himself. "Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance."

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol. Either of them." Shane spoke up for dad and me.

She turned to me now. "How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child." I flinched.

"Back off." Daryl stood between Carol and me, blocking my view of her. "Victoria did everything she could. She did more than the rest of us- including Rick. So just back off." he turned to me and grabbed my hand, moving us away from the group.

Once we stood near his bike, he turned to me, setting me on the seat of the bike. I just sat there looking at my hands wondering why I couldn't have done better. I should have been able to keep us both safe  _and_  bring her back to the others. Why did I have to screw up?

"Victoria." he knelt and brushed my hair behind my ear. "It's not your fault."

"It is." I argued.

He shook his head. "You pulled her out of there and you saved her. If It wasn't for you she would have died."

"But I left her out there."

He looked at my clothes then, before his eyes landed back on mine. "What happened?"

"There was another walker. It came out of nowhere I swear. It just jumped on me and before I knew it I was pinned to the ground struggling to keep this thing from biting me." the tears started then. "I had no choice. I told Sophia to run. I told her to leave me. I didn't want her to stay and watch me die or get caught by a walker herself. So, I told her to run."

He nodded, wiping away my tears. "What happened to the walker?" I reached in the back of my pants and pulled out his knife. He didn't need to hear what I did. Just seeing the bloodied knife was answer enough. "You did the right thing."

I nodded before throwing my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "I was so scared, Daryl." I cried.

He hugged me back, placing a kiss on my temple. "I won't let anything happen to you. You're safe now."

 

...

 

We stood around the hood of a car, waiting for Daryl to give instructions. Dad had decided to let Daryl run the search, which meant we were following his rules.

"Everybody takes a weapon." dad told us, lying out the weapons we could choose from.

Andrea sighed. "These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?"

"We've been over that. Daryl, Rick and I are carrying." Shane told her from where he stood at the back, leaning against the RV. "We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." she argued.

I rolled my eyes. "You're not the only one who wants a gun but won't get one. So just drop it." I snapped, grabbing the first weapon I saw before storming off.

I could hear Daryl talking to everyone, telling them what we'd be doing but I didn't care. I'd be sticking to everyone else, so there was no need for me to have to stand there and listen.

"You're not goin'." I turned to see Daryl standing behind me, his crossbow over this shoulder.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You're not goin'." he shrugged, looking out in the distance.

I placed my hands on my hips. "And why not?"

He shrugged once more, that simple gesture so annoying right now. "You should stay here and help keep an eye out. Take care of T-Dog." he answered still not looking at me.

I shook my head and took the few steps that kept us apart. "Tell me what this is really about."

He looked at me then, angry and... worried? "I don't want you out there again. Not after yesterday. Okay?"

I tilted my head, processing what he said. "You worried about me Mr. Dixon?" I grinned.

He shrugged. "So, what if I am. Does it matter?"

I reached out and grabbed his shirt, fixing it; though really it was just an excuse to touch him. "I think it's sweet." I smiled.

"Victoria." we both turned, my hand falling at the sound of my mum's voice. "Let's get going." she said before following the others over the railing.

I turned back to Daryl. "You better get to the front, boss." I smiled before heading towards my mum.

**Bamby**


	3. Not Much of a Believer

**VPOV**

"So..." mum turned to me. "What's going on between you and Daryl?"

We were walking through the woods. Shane was behind us, and Carl in front so she kept her voice down thankfully.

I shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about mum."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm not stupid, or blind. I've seen the way you two are around each other. Since the night we stayed at the CDC and I saw the guys in your room. I saw him sitting on the floor in front of you and I knew there was something. Then sure enough I find him in your room... where he had slept that night... with you might I add." she looked at me pointedly.

"It was nothing. He's just being nice."

She shook her head and laughed. "Nice? Sweetie he cares for you. And you care for him. Why else would he have rushed out into the woods yesterday?"

"To go find Sophia." I suggested, hating this interrogation.

"Sure, there's that. But I bet if it wasn't for you he wouldn't have just gone off without talking to everyone else." she pointed out.

I sighed, giving up. "I like him, mum. He's done a lot for me. More than you know. More than you'll _ever_  know." I said before picking up the pace so I could walk with Glenn.

We came to a stop, standing just a little ways away from a tent and camp site.

Dad signalled for us all to get down. Shane walked forward to stand with Daryl and my dad. I followed, stopping to kneel next to my dad.

"She could be in there." Shane said, the sound of someone talking felt eerie and wrong out here.

"There could be a whole bunch of things in there." Daryl pointed out before standing up. I grabbed his hand and turned him to me. Before he could say anything, I handed him his knife. He nodded, then started towards the tent. Dad and Shane moved to follow him.

I watched him as he walked cautiously towards the tent, my heart racing a mile a minute. He placed his crossbow down before moving closer to the tent's door. My eyes were glued on him, watching his every move. If I saw anything wrong I was going to run to him, no matter what.

He turned back to us and shrugged.

Dad looked over at the rest of us before signalling Carol to come. "Carol." was all he said before she moved towards him.

The rest of us followed, but Shane stopped us from going with dad and Carol. Dad whispered something in her ear, but we couldn't hear.

This was killing me. I started to pace, watching our surroundings. I hated this. I hated being stuck at the back. I hated Daryl going into danger. But most of all I hated that I couldn't have stopped this search by taking better care of Sophia.

"Stop." I looked over at Glenn who looked at me sympathetically. "It's not your fault."

I nodded. "You sure about that?" I asked before I saw Daryl walk into the tent. I forgot about Glenn as I rushed forward, trying to get to the tent.

Shane's arm grabbed me, stopping me from getting any closer. "Don't even think about it." he told me, still holding me to him.

"Let go of me Shane." I struggled, though kept silent.

Suddenly Daryl came out and took one look at Shane. I felt the arms around me let go before I stepped away, heading for the tent door.

"I wouldn't." Daryl took a step in front of me.

I looked up at him. "What's in there?" he handed me back his knife and shrugged.

"A body. Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain' that what he called it?" he asked, moving to grab his crossbow before putting it around his shoulder.

Before we could say anything, there was a sound of bells ringing and it was like we all had one thought- find those bells.

**DPOV**

We came to a clearing, stopping to look at the church in front of us.

I saw Victoria in the corner of my eyes heading for the church, but before she could take another step, Shane grabbed her. My anger boiled as he held her close to him. "It's got no steeple. It's the wrong church." he told her.

But Rick ran off anyway, and with that we all followed him.

He opened the doors to the church revealing four people sitting inside. As we all stood there, the heads of the people turned... walkers.

Shane, Rick and I headed in. I didn't realise Victoria had followed us.

I had my eyes set on the woman. She watched Shane so I made kissing noises which got her attention. Turning to me she snarled before I sliced her across the head with the knife Glenn had handed me.

I looked up in time to see Victoria shove my knife into the temple of a walker who looked about her age. Once the knife went in she pulled it out, letting the walker fall, before she knelt over it and stabbed it in the brain one more time.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Lori asked, storming towards Victoria. She looked pissed, but I couldn't blame her. I didn't exactly like the thought of Victoria fighting. I didn't like the thought of her having to fight. Though seeing her with that walker, the way she just put it down without a fuss... I gotta admit it was impressive.

She turned to Lori. "I was thinking about killing a walker before he got to anyone else." she snapped. "I'm not a little girl anymore mum. I can make my own decisions."

**VPOV**

I walked out of the church, needing some space.

As soon as I was out in the open I heard the bells ringing again. I followed the sounds to the side of the church where I found a timed p.a. system designed to repeat the bell sounds on a timed loop.

I pulled out the cords as everyone came around the corner. "It's a god damn timer." I yelled, kicking the wall. "She's not here."

"I'm gonna go back inside for a bit." Carol said before she headed back into the church.

Everyone followed, except Daryl. When he saw me still standing by the wall, my hands resting against it, he came back towards me.

"Stop beating yourself up." he told me.

I laughed, though it wasn't a laugh of humour. "Why not, everyone else blames me and my dad. Why shouldn't I join the club?"

His hand grabbed my shoulder before he turned me around. " _I_  don't blame you."

I nodded. "I know you don't." I gave him a smile before walking away.

 

...

 

We all waited under a tree in the middle of the cemetery as Shane and my dad talked. I stood behind Carl, as he showed me his weapon mum and dad let him use.

Shane cleared his throat as he walked over to us. "Y'all gonna follow the creek bed, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."

"You're splittin' us up. You sure?" I heard Daryl ask.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane nodded as dad came to stand by him.

"I'm going with you." I told them, giving them a look that left no argument.

I saw Carl look up at me before turning to dad. "I wanna stay, too. I'm her friend."

Shane and dad shared a look before turning back to him. Though neither of them spoke. Shane scoffed, an amused look on his face.

It was mum who answered, looking at both Carl and me. "Just be careful, okay?"

"We will." Carl smiled up at her.

Everyone else gathered their things, getting ready to head off. I saw Daryl watching me, so I moved over to him.

"I don't want you staying." he told me, though he said it quietly enough so I was the only one that heard. "I won't be here."

I smiled and shrugged. "I got my dad. Plus, I need you to take care of my mum."

He nodded before reaching into the back of his pants. "I want you to take this."

I looked at the gun and shook my head. "I'm not leaving you without the only gun in your group. Sorry, but you're keeping it."

He smirked. "You don't know how to use one? Is that it?"

I rolled my eyes. "Give it to my mum. She knows how to use one." I said before turning around.

"Be careful."

I looked over my shoulder and nodded. "You too." and with that we set off in opposite directions.

"Give me a minute." dad told Shane before he walked back to the church.

Shane turned to Carl. "Come on." he sighed before following my dad. I just stayed there, looking around, keeping an eye out for walkers. "You comin'?" Shane called.

I shook my head. "Not much of a believer." I shrugged.

 

...

 

Walking in the woods I kept behind Carl so I could watch him all the time. I didn't exactly like the fact he was with us. It meant he was in more danger. But mum and dad had agreed so there was nothing I could do.

Suddenly I heard twigs snapping and bushes rustling. Shane came to stand in front of Carl and I, keeping us safe if anything were to come out.

Dad stopped and pointed in a direction before we followed him that way. Getting his gun ready I could see in the way his body tensed, he was ready to defend us.

But when I saw what it was I couldn't help but smile. It was just so beautiful.

Grabbing Carl's hand, I led him towards the deer slowly. He looked up at me, smiling like the way he used to before everything had happened. The deer kept eating, but as we got closer it looked up, and I swear it looked right at us. It's black eyes so beautiful and telling. It's fur so smooth and soft looking.

The moment was ruined at the sound of a gunshot. I was only vaguely aware that I was no longer standing. Instead I was lying on the ground with Carl lying on top of me.

I looked over at him, seeing blood seep through his shirt. "Carl?" I asked, shaking him. "Carl?!"

**Bamby**


	4. Five Shards Too Many

**VPOV**

I ran as fast as I could, staying behind my dad the whole time. Tears poured down as I thought of my baby brother in my dad's arms bleeding to death.

The man who had shot Carl, told us where he lived. Apparently, the man who owned the farm was a doctor and would help us. We ran through the fields, the whole time all I could do was hope he'd be okay.

As we got closer the front door opened. People walked out, an old man up front. "Was he bit?" he asked.

"Shot by your man." dad panted, still moving towards the house.

"Otis?" a woman asked as they stepped down from the porch.

"He said find Hershel. Is that you?" the man nodded at my dad's question. "Help me. Help my boy." he begged.

"Get him inside. Inside!" the man order, walking along side my dad.

I followed, not having said a word yet. The old man barked orders but I couldn't understand a word that was said. I was in shock, unable to focus on any thought except 'will he die?'.

I watched as my dad laid Carl's unmoving body down. All I could do was watch. I wasn't even crying anymore. I just stood there in the middle of the room, watching as my little brother bleed to death.

"Is he alive?" I barely recognised my voice. "Daddy? Is- is he alive?" I moved out of everyone's way, watching them move around my brother.

"What's your name?" the old man asked dad.

"Rick. I'm... I'm Rick."

"Rick, we're gonna do everything we can, okay? But right now, you and your daughter need to give us some room." the man looked at dad, and with that said dad moved to me.

I refused to leave at first, glued to the spot as if my feet were a part of the floor. But with my dad’s arm around me, I gave in, letting him direct me out.

"Daddy?" once we were out of the room, I turned and buried my face in his chest. "Dad?"

He held me, stroking my hair, not saying a word.

"Move!"

We both looked out the window to see Shane and Otis running towards the house. I followed dad as he made his way outside, standing on the porch waiting for Shane.

"He's alive? He's still alive?" Otis asked, out of breath.

I stood behind dad, finding it hard to stand. I was still in shock. I couldn't stop thinking of the blood. All of Carl's blood. My brother...

Dad turned, going back inside as he started to cry. Shane turned to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, crying once more, needing comfort. "Come on." he whispered before taking my hand and following dad.

Dad showed him to the room where Carl was, but I couldn't look in. Shane turned to me. "We'll just be a second. Okay?"

I nodded, letting go of his hand.

 

...

 

Dad and Shane sat on the couch talking as I paced. I couldn't stop moving. It was too quiet in there. I couldn't hear anything.

The door opened, a young woman stepping out. She took one look at me before looking at my dad. "Rick." dad and Shane both got up, heading to the room, I followed, needing to see Carl. "He needs blood." the woman said, as we walked in, an urgency in her tone.

I stood in the door way by the girl, looking at Carl as the old man dug inside of him to get the bullet shard out.

Carl cried and squirmed as they held him down. "Dad! Vickie!" he cried. "Please." he begged before he screamed.

As Carl kept screaming, dad got to a boiling point. "Stop! You're killing him!"

"Rick, do you want him to live?" Hershel asked without stopping what he was doing.

"He needs blood." the older woman standing by dad said.

Shane looked up at dad. "Do it now!"

"Please dad." I begged, crying. "Hurry!"

The young lady turned to me and then her eyes landed on my shirt. "Are you bleedin'?"

I looked down and shook my head. "It's his." I whispered, staring at the blood.

She shook her head, reaching for my shirt. "That's fresh." she lifted my shirt.

Underneath was a gun shot, so small. I knew looking at it, it was the shard that they had been talking about. Carl had five shards inside of him and one had gone right through without hitting anything. They had thought it had just gone off, and ended up in a tree. Instead it was in me.

"Oh, god." my legs became like jelly as I stumbled back, siding down the wall. Suddenly it felt like I was on fire. Now that I knew it was there, I could feel all the pain and my body ached as I slowly bleed from the small wound. Yet I knew it was serious and that just made me feel worse.

The lady turned to Hershel. "Dad she's shot too."

Hershel looked up from Carl. "How bad?"

I held a hand to the wound, putting pressure on it as pain rippled through my body. I guess I had been numb to it before, too shocked over Carl. But now, looking at it, it hurt like hell.

"I don't know there's too much blood."

I looked up at dad who was looking at my stomach where the blood was. "Victoria?"

Shane was also looking at me horrified.

"I'm fine." I tried to stand, but when my legs gave in the young lady ended up pulling me up and helping me.

"I'll fix her up. It'll be fine." she told everyone before leading us out. She brought me to another room, setting me on the bed. "Take you shirt off."

I did as she said, as she left the room. When she came back she had an arm full of supplies. Dropping them on the bed beside me she started to get to work. "I'm gonna need you to keep still." she told me after leaning the wound.

Suddenly I could feel cold metal on my skin as she pushed long tweezers into the wound. I screamed at the pain, though tried to keep as still as I possibly could.

"It's deep." she mumbled, looking down at me apologetically. "Sorry." she said before digging deeper.

I screamed again, and this time I couldn't help but squirm. Before I knew it, everything went black as I passed out...

**DPOV**

"How much further?" Andrea asked, like a kid on a road trip. It was times like this I wondered why I was in a group.

"Not much. Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies." I answered, keeping my thoughts to myself.

"Too bad we're not crows." she mumbled, though I still heard her. I didn't really care what she said though. All I wanted was to get back to the RV, and wait for Victoria. I was starting to worry about her.

As we kept walking suddenly I heard scream. We all stopped, looking around. The first thing I noticed was that Andrea was gone.

"Andrea?" Lori called.

There was more screaming as we got closer.

Andrea was on the ground under a snarling walker as she fought to keep its mouth away from her.

Out of nowhere this girl came ridding on a horse, hitting the walker in the head with a bat. "Lori? Lori Grimes?"

"I'm Lori."

The new chick turned to Lori. "Rick sent me. You got to come now."

"What?" Lori looked at her confused. How the hell did she know Rick's name anyway? Or Lori's?

"There's been an accident. Carl and Victoria have been shot. They're still alive, but you gotta come now." when Lori didn't move she snapped. "Rick needs you! Just come!

"Victoria?" I stepped forward. "What happened?"

"We don't have time to talk. Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?"

"Uh-huh." was all Glenn seemed to be able to get out.

"Back track to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our 'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene." and with that she rode off, Lori with her.

The walker sat up moaning. I looked at it, and with a simple arrow killed it. "Shut up."

**VPOV**

After I had woken up I moved back to Carl's room. Dad told me what was going on, and how Shane and Otis had gone to the high school in order to get the supplies to save my brother.

Hershel insisted I stay seated, and not to move too much. So, I sat on the chair by Carl's bed, resting my feet on another chair so I could go to sleep comfortably. I didn't wake up until I heard more voices, by then the sun was setting.

"Where are they?" that was mum, her voice getting closer.

"In here." dad said as they rounded the corner.

I opened my eyes, looking over at my mum. She looked between Carl and I before bursting into tears, rushing to the side of the bed. "My babies." she grabbed my hand, kissing it as she laid by Carl. "Oh, baby boy. My baby boy. It's okay. Mama's here. Mama's here. You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. You're both gonna be alright. We'll make you okay." she sobbed.

Dad came over to me, placing a hand on mum's hip and kissing my forehead. "I love you so much." he whispered to me, crying.

I nodded, feeling my own tears fall. "I love you too." I choked out. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. We just-"

Mum turned to me and wrapped her arms around me, shaking her head. "It's not your fault baby. It's not your fault."

 

...

 

The Otis' wife- Patricia- finished the blood transfusion before leaving the room.

Dad tried to get up but mum stopped him when he almost toppled over, guiding him back to his seat. "How many transfusions have you given?" mum asked, staring at dad with both worry for him and Carl.

"Two. Only two."

"He wanted to do the same for you when you were in the hospital." mum told him. "I had to talk him out of it." she smiled.

I smiled too. "He didn't talk to you for hours after."

She nodded, looking over her shoulder at me. "He told you to give me messages when he was hungry. And even when I tried to give him food, he'd turn to you so you'd take it from me."

"Come on, Rick. Let's get you some food." Hershel stood up from kneeling on the floor. I stood too but he just shook his head. "If you keep movin' you're gonna open up you stitches."

Mum walked to me, kissing my forehead before crouching down. "Stay here okay. We'll be right back. I need you to watch over Carl for me." she smiled sympathetically. I nodded and she got up placing another kiss on my head. "I love you."

"Love you to mum." I said before the three adults left the room.

**DPOV**

"I won't do it. I won't just leave." Carol told us.

We were gathered around the RV trying to figure out our next move. Dale thought it would be best to go to the farm, but Carol refused.

"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale argued.

"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol pointed out, getting worked up the more we talked about this. "It could happen."

"If Sophia find her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea added, obviously agreeing with Carol.

I nodded, thinking things through before sharing my thoughts. "Okay. We gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. Someone should stay here, hold up with the RV."

"If the RV is staying, I am, too." Dale spoke up.

I turned to Andrea to see what she wanted to do. "I'm in. But what about you?"

"Glenn and I will go to the farm, take T-Dog too. He needs to get fixed up." I shrugged, not wanting to say the reason I was going was to see Victoria. I hated not knowing if she was okay or not.

"Why do I have to go?" Glenn asked, slightly offended.

"That cut has gone from bad to worse. Get him to that farm, see if they have any antibiotics. 'Cause if they don't, T-Dog's going to die, no joke." Dale answered, looking at all of us so we knew how serious his cut really was.

I walked over to my brother's motorcycle, grabbing the bag of meds and Dale's rag. Moving back to the group I threw he rags to Dale. "Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." I told him as I placed the bag of pills on the hood of a car.

"Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash. Crystal, X... don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers. Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion." I shrugged.

**VPOV**

The moment Hershel and my parents came back to Carl's room I made up some excuse to go sit on the porch. I told them I needed air- which was partly true. But in reality, I couldn't sit there any longer and watch my brother get worse.

"You need anythin'?" I looked up to see Hershel's eldest daughter- Maggie- walk out the front door.

I just shook my head a turned back around so I could look out at the fields. I sat on the steps of the porch, leaning my head against the post to my left. "I'm fine, thanks." I mumbled, not really having the energy to speak any louder.

She sat next to me, looking at me with concern. "You haven't eaten since you got here. You should probably eat somethin'."

"I had a glass of juice earlier." I said as if to say, 'that's all I need'.

She sighed, "If you don't eat you'll pass out and then my dad will have to take care of both you and your brother."

I turned to look at her, my eyes wide. That's exactly what I didn't want. I was trying to stay out of the way so everyone took care of Carl. I hadn't realised that I was doing more damage to the situation, then actually helping.

"So, do you need anythin'?" she asked once again.

I nodded. "Something to eat would be nice."

 

...

 

I must have fallen asleep sitting on the porch step, cause the moment I heard the front door close, I opened my eyes to see the sunset gone.

"They're here." Maggie told me, as she watched the drive way. Sure enough, Daryl's motor bike and Carol's Cherokee were headed our way.

As soon as Daryl stopped the bike, and had it standing, he rushed towards me. I tried to get up, but had difficulty. Maggie must have noticed, so she held my arm and gave me a hand to my feet. Once I stood Daryl stopped at the bottom of the steps looking at me. Seeing the concern in his eyes, caused me to break and so the tears started rolling. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me to him, but he made sure he was gentle and careful.

"When she said you got shot. God, I thought the worst." he whispered, pulling me closer.

My arms snaked around his neck as I stood on my toes to get as close to him as I could without hurting myself.

"Did you close the gate up when you drove in?" Maggie asked from behind me.

"Uh. Hi. Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything." Glenn answered uneasily.

I stepped back from Daryl to see Glenn and T-Dog behind him. "Guys, this is Maggie." I gestured to Hershel's eldest daughter. "Maggie, this is Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl."

"Nice to see you again." Glenn smiled. "We- um- we met before briefly"

T-Dog looked like crap to be honest. I looked at his arm and could see how swollen it was. Yet he stayed strong and brave. "We came to help. There anything we can do?" he asked before groaning.

I couldn't see Maggie behind me, but from the look of Daryl she must have been curious about the bandage on T-Dog's arm. "It's not a bite. It's a scratch."

"We'll have it looked at. I'll tell them you're here."

"Here." Daryl passed her a bag. "It's got some pills you can use."

"Thanks. Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat." Maggie said. I felt her hand on my shoulder and I turned to look at her. "You need to rest now, okay?" I nodded before she walked inside with Glenn and T-Dog.

"Where are you sleeping?"

I turned back to Daryl. "Hmm?"

He grinned and shook his head. "Where are you sleeping? I'll help you walk there, get you somethin' to eat an' drink. Get you fixed up."

**Bamby**


	5. Stay with Me

**VPOV**

"Over there." I directed Daryl towards Carl's room. He insisted on taking me to bed so I can rest, but I had to see Carl and my parents before I could sleep. "In here." I gestured to the doorway of the room.

"-we can't wait much longer." I heard Hershel say as we walked through the door.

"Mum? Dad?" They both turned to Daryl and me, seeming surprised to see Daryl here. "I'm going to bed. Maggie said I need rest."

"Maggie's right. You should be resting your body, before you do more damage." Hershel commented as mum and dad got up and moved to me.

"We're right here if you need us." mum kissed me on the head.

Dad stepped forward, hugging me. "Watch her. Make sure she's alright." he told Daryl before letting me go. "I love you." he smiled at me.

I nodded. "I love you too. Both of you."

Mum nodded, giving me another kiss. "Night baby girl."

"Night." I said back before Daryl helped me leave.

I directed him to the room I was staying in, just down the hall from Carl's room. Once we were in there he set me down on the bed, helping me put my legs up. I rested my head on the pillow watching him as he stood there.

I pointed to the chair in the corner. "Stay. Please?" I asked, looking back up at him.

He hesitated at first before nodding, grabbing the chair and pulling it up to the side of the bed. I reached out and grabbed his hand, placing it on the mattress beside me. He squeezed my hand reassuringly, his thumb massaging the back of it.

"It was so beautiful Daryl." I closed my eyes remembering the deer. "It was so close. We were walking and we saw a dear in the woods. Carl and I, we tried to get close so we could touch it. It was beautiful. Those big black eyes, so innocent and pure. I've never seen anything like it before." I smiled, opening my eyes and looking at him. "I didn't even know I had been hit."

He looked away, holding my hand a little tighter. "I was worried about you, you know?"

I nodded, squeezing his hand back. "Maggie wanted me to stay in bed, but I had to stay outside. I wanted to see you get here... I needed to see you."

I watched him as he looked down at our hands with an unreadable expression.

"Daryl?"

He looked at me then, biting his thumb nail. "Yeah?"

"Don't leave me, okay?"

"Never again. Not even if you tell me to." he nodded, determined to keep his word.

 

...

 

I could feel someone shaking me as I slept, whispering my name. But I refused to wake. My body needed the rest, and this person was ruining my sleep.

"Go away." I mumbled.

"Vic. Wake up. It's Carl." Daryl's southern accent called to my sleeping self.

I opened my eyes slowly, turning over the see him standing by my bed. "Carl?"

"He's awake."

I was wide awake then. I didn't even have to tell Daryl to help me get up. He just did what he needed to do. I was feeling a lot better, so I could walk by myself, but he stayed by my side; even if I was slow.

Walking into Carl's room I could see my parents sitting by his bed. Mum held his hand, leaning forward, as dad placed his own hand on top of mum's.

"Carl?" my voice was weak I wasn't sure if he had heard it.

But when his head turned and he looked at me, I couldn't help but smile. "Vickie? Are you okay?"

I laughed, moving to his bed where I sat next to him, Daryl close behind. "Are you kidding me? It's me who should be asking that." He smiled and I leaned forward to place a kiss on his cheek. "You had me worried sick." Sitting back up I could see how tired he was. "You rest okay? I'll see you later." I smiled, as Daryl helped me up.

Carl nodded. "I love you."

"Love you too, buddy."

Once we were out of the room, Daryl helped me to the porch outside. I could see people working, though not all of our people were here yet. But I wasn't worried. If something had happened, Daryl would have told me.

"Can I see it?" Daryl's voice broke the silence.

"See what?" He pointed to my bloodied shirt, the same one I wore yesterday. Knowing what he meant I lifted my shirt so he could see the bandage.

His fingers moved to a corner of the bandage before he pulled it back enough to see the wound. His rough skin touching mine for even that fleeting moment, sent shivers through my body- in a good way might I add.

"How bad does it hurt?" he asked, putting the bandage back. His fingers touching my stomach once more.

"I don't even feel it when you touch me." I blurted out, feeling heat rush through my body.

He looked at me then and I swear my wound was forgotten.

He moved forward, his hand running along my side, slipping under my shirt before resting on my lower back. His other hand brushed my hair behind my ear, cupping my face. My own hands rested on his arms, glad that he always kept them bare.

The way he looked at me, with raw passion and need. I had never seen someone look at me like that. Sure, some guys had looked at me as if they'd like to go somewhere and do stuff. Shane had looked at me in a similar way actually. But it had never been this... intense.

It was like my body was vibrating with a desire to be touching him. His hands holding me there, his touch so soft and gentle, yet his skin so rough and worn. I felt as if I was being held by someone real. Someone who worked with his hands and could do some many things with them...

"Hey guys. They're here." Glenn called.

Daryl's eyes stayed on mine as his hands let go. "I'll go tell Rick and Lori." he mumbled before stepping back and reluctantly turning away.

My skin had goose bumps all over. My head was light and dizzy, my stomach full of butterflies. And everywhere I could feel heat.

"You okay?" Glenn asked as he moved towards me.

I nodded, breathless. "Just fine."

 

...

 

We all gathered around the area where Otis had been buried, each of us placing a rock on the grave. Slowly the pile grew quite large, almost past my shoulders.

I stood by my parents, holding my mum's hand. We way not have known Otis, and it may have been him that almost killed Carl, but he fixed what he did and he died a true hero.

To my left were the rest of our people, Daryl at the end of the line. I looked up at him, and at that moment he looked at me. I'm not sure if it was a second or an hour, but we stayed there staring at each other with such intense emotions I wasn't sure what was going on anymore.

It's hard to figure out what's going on between us. I mean, I'm not even sure if there is an us. It's like every time I see him, I feel better in that moment. I feel safer, more relaxed. And when he touches me, it's as if he wakes a part of me that's been asleep my whole life, and I can't help but feel drawn to that. My whole being can't help but want him... heck maybe even need him.

"Shane," Hershel's voice pulled my attention away from Daryl. "Will you speak for Otis?"

Shane simply looked away, and I couldn't help but notice the way he stood and moved, as if he was nervous. "I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."

Patricia cried. "You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

That seemed to have been enough to get Shane to start talking. "Okay.” he started, nodding as he went on. "We were about done. Almost out of were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up." He got more and more into the story, his confidence growing. I wasn't sure if it was just the memories, or something else, but whatever had him so nervous and scared, wasn't holding him back anymore.

"'We've got to save the boy.'. See that's what he said." he looked at each person, going on. "He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.'. And when I looked back..." there was no need to finish that sentence. We all knew what happened. Shane got that, he didn't explain anything.

"If not for Otis, I'd never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." and with that he placed the final stone on Otis' grave.

...

Mum had walked me to the camp, while the others helped clean up the grave site, dumping the rocks where they needed to go. We walked in silence. After everything that had happened, it was nice. We didn't need to talk in order to feel comfortable with each other. We just knew that this is what we both needed.

We went our separate ways, mum going to do laundry, while I stayed where I was as Daryl came towards me.

He looked away into the distance, before looking at me, and I scoffed. I couldn't believe it. "You're going out, aren't you?" he just nodded. "So, what, you're just going to go out there with my dad and Shane and leave me here to worry about you?"

"Shane and Rick ain't coming." he shrugged, looking away as he started chewing his thumb nail.

I looked away then, afraid I might slap him with how angry I was. "So, you're going out there... by yourself?"

"Yeah."

I sighed, letting go of my anger. I didn't see any point on getting upset considering he was going out to look for Sophia. "I swear if you're not back by sunset, I'm going out there, looking for you myself."

He chuckled then, and I looked up to see him grinning down at me. "You worried about me Miss Grimes?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be an idiot." he just chuckled again before I pulled him into my arms as I hugged him. "Come back, okay?"

At first, he stood frozen, even his chuckling had stopped. But he relaxed then, wrapping his arms around me. "Always do."

"Hey Victoria." I looked over Daryl's shoulder to see Glenn gesturing for me to go to him.

I let go of Daryl, sighing as I stepped back. "Off to work I go." I mumbled.

His fingers lay under my chin before he pulled it up so I'd look at him. "Just remember, you're still healin'. Don't want you doing more damage." I smiled up at him and nodded before he added. "And stay away from Shane. I don't trust him."

"Sir, yes sir." I tried for humour, though I wasn't really feeling it.

He just shook his head grinning before he walked off. With that I headed toward Glenn, ready to get my mind off everything.

"Howdy, what seems to be the problem." I grinned.

"Dale and T-Dog found a walker in the well." he told me, not reacting to my second try of humour in the last hour. I guess it was just one of those days.

**Bamby**


	6. Revealing the Truth

**DPOV**

I was getting ready to leave, grabbing some supplies just in case. As much as I wanted to be home by sunset to keep Victoria safe and sound- 'cause there was no doubt she'd go after me- things happened, and the reality is that I could end up staying out for the night.

I avoided watching her, knowing we had gained a few suspicious watchers. Lori was one of them, as well as Carol and Dale. I caught the three of them watching us whenever we were together, and I couldn't help but feel like we had no privacy. And there wasn't even anything going on between us, so I didn't understand what the big deal was.

I mean sure, we kissed. But it's not like she really wanted to. Why would she be with a good for nothing nobody like me, when she could have anyone she wanted? She was smart, funny, strong, brave, and beautiful.

I saw Glenn looking at her every now and then, and I knew about his crush. Even T-Dog had mentioned on occasion that he thought she was something special. Then there was Shane, though I worried about him hurting her more than her going after him. And there was no doubt that any other guy that we could come across would check her out. She had more options when it came to guys than anything else.

"You heading off?" I looked up to see Carol standing by, a basket full of folded clothes in her hands.

I gave a quick nod, pulling my crossbow over my shoulder. "Gonna go look 'round the creek. See if she's there."

I knew Carol was grateful that I was still looking for Sophia, and a part of me was doing it for her. But really, I was doing it for Victoria. Every minute that girl was still missing, was a minute she let herself feel guilty about it. It was eating her up and I hated watching her be this way.

"Are you going by yourself?"

I nodded again. "Shane and Rick need to rest from last night."

"Well I'll keep an eye out for Victoria, make sure she stays safe." she gave me a knowing look.

"Why would I care if she's safe?" I asked, getting defensive.

Carol just shrugged. "I never said you would care." and with that she walked off.

**VPOV**

I stood with Maggie watching the others help Glenn as he slowly went down the well to get the walker. I hated what they were doing. Tying up a human and putting them in a closed area with hardly any space to move in order to keep them self safe and protected.

"You guys are crazy. What if something happens?" I snapped, looking away from the hole Glenn was descending. "Shane get him out of there."

"It'll be fine Vickie. Just watch him and don't worry. Nothing will hap-" he was cut off as the well's pump broke and suddenly Glenn was screaming as he fell down the well faster.

I grabbed the rope, feeling it burn as I held on to it. I felt the others behind me, helping me pull him up as he screamed and yelled down in the well. I was vaguely aware that my stitches had opened, but I didn't have time to care. I needed to help save Glenn first.

When we finally pulled him up Maggie and I rushed to his side, making sure he was okay.

"Back to the drawing board." Dale sighed.

Glenn just stood up. "Says you." he put the rope in Dale's hands.

The others started pulling the walker up while I stood by the well watching to make sure everything went according to plan. And it was... up until they got it out. The walker got stuck, and as much as they pulled it wouldn't budge.

Suddenly they all pulled a little too hard, and the walker ripped apart, the stench of wet, rotting meat filling my senses.

"Oh god." I took a step back, heaving at the stench as the walker's legs and guts fell back into the well.

"If the water wasn't contaminated before, it is now." Dale commented. "We should seal this well off."

"Yeah, that might be a god idea." Shane added.

I grabbed my axe that was lying by my feet before slamming it down into the walker's head. "Next time you guys go fishing, count me out." I mumbled before going to walk off. I winced at the pain from where my stitches had ripped open.

"How bad it is?"

I turned to look at Maggie and shrugged. "I'm fine. No need to worry."

I had noticed the way she reacted to me killing the walker, and I wanted to ask questions or comfort her. The way she looked, it was like that was her first walker she'd seen. Like maybe she felt bad for the monster. And I guess I'd understand if it was my first walker... but I had been out there for too long to feel anything towards them anymore.

"What's going on here?" Shane asked, moving towards us.

I grabbed Maggie's hand before pulling her along. "Nothing you need to worry about." I called to him, not looking that way.

I hadn't said anything to anyone, but I was pretty sure Shane was lying about what happened with Otis. The story just didn't add up, and since then he had been staying close to me. It was like he thought that since he helped Carl, he was forgiven for everything he had done.

Maggie didn't try to stop me as I continued to pull her along to the house. When we stood in the room Daryl and I had been in the other night, she stopped and gestured for me to sit on the bed.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?" she asked, sitting on the chair Daryl had been on.

I looked up at the older girl. I thought for a moment, wondering if I could trust her. She had done so much for me and my family so far it seemed stupid not to tell her anything. And honestly, I needed a friend. All I had was Daryl, Glenn, Dale and T-Dog. Sure, the others and I were close, but it seemed those four were the closest I had to friends... well besides Sophia.

"Shane and my dad used to work together. I got a crush. We started making out in secret. My dad got shot and ended up in a coma. When the world ended and Shane told us dad died and he took care of my family and me.

"I got separated. Then one day Glenn found me and took me to his camp where Shane, Carl and my mum were already there. My dad came back even though he was supposed to be dead, and I felt myself hating Shane.

"The camp got over run and we had to leave so went to the CDC. Shane tried to... show me he loved me... in a violent way. I don't think he meant to, but he hurt me. Then we got away, Carl got shot, Shane saved Carl. And now I don't know what to do." I shrugged, looking away from her.

"When he said he tried to show you he loves you, what do you mean?" I refused to look up at her, knowing she understood what I meant by the tone of my voice. "He tried to rape you, didn't he?" her voice held more anger then I thought it could. I nodded. "And your parents let him stay?"

I looked up at her then, shaking my head frantically. "They don't know. They  _can't_  know."

Her eyes were wide as she watched me. It took a few minutes before she spoke up. "What happened? Exactly."

I looked away once more, letting my eyes watch my hands as they fiddled with the seam of my shirt. I shook as I remembered what happened, trying to stay calm. "He was drunk. We- we hadn't been on the best of terms. When my dad came back, I was mad at Shane for telling us he died.

"He came into the rec room at the CDC. I was alone. He wanted to talk, tell me how sorry he was. But I didn't want to hear it. I just asked him if he had been using me all that time. I mean we had never done anything more than kissing, but it was still something. He told me-" I let out a dull laugh, wiping my tears. "He told me he loved me. That he knew I loved him too. That I just needed to remember.

"He-he pushed me on to a table, kissing and touching me. His ha-hand went down. Touched my- touched me down there. Rubbing and touching. I cried but he wouldn't stop. I tried pushing him away. Kicking, scratching, hitting. But he wouldn't stop.

"And then he was on the ground, Daryl on top of him, beating him up. I-I told Daryl to stop, and he did. Then he took me to my room, and stayed with me. Just holding me as I cried. He didn't try anything. He just stayed there." I wiped at my tears as they kept falling.

I looked up at Maggie to see her looking at me with horror. She wiped at her own tears before coming to kneel in front of me. "You're fine." she brushed my hair back, her other hand holding my own. "He'll never touch you again. I promise." she smiled sympathetically.

I nodded, my tears slowing.

"Hey Maggie-" Glenn burst through the door. I looked away, so he wouldn't see me. "Everything okay?" I heard him come in and close the door.

Maggie stood. "Everything's fine." I looked up then, nodding in agreement. "I'll be out there in a minute, just have to fix up Victoria's stitches and then the three of us can go?"

"Three?" Glenn looked between us.

Maggie just nodded before ushering him out. "Victoria's comin' too. Can never have enough hands." she smiled before closing the door in his face and turning to me.

"Where are we going? And why am I joining the two of you?"

She grabbed some of the supplies off the table in the corner of the room before moving back to me. I lifted my shirt and she started to take out my stitches and clean the blood from where they ripped.

"Supply run. And you're comin' because Daryl isn't here and I don't want you to be alone with Shane. It'd be fine if others knew, but I'm guessing you won't tell. Which means you're sticking with me."

She started stitching up the small wound, though I noticed she used less stiches than last night. Once she was done, she bandaged it up, and pulled my shirt down back into place.

Standing up and putting everything away she continued. "With a world like this people have to look after each other. I have Beth- my sister-, but I guess it would be nice to have a friend too." she smiled.

I stood too, smiling back. "Thanks, that would be nice."

**Bamby**


	7. That Kiss

**VPOV**

I rode on my own horse behind Glenn and Maggie. We left a little bit later seeing as Maggie had to get my horse ready. It was beautiful, a black stallion. Her name, I couldn't remember, so I called her Shadow; not original, but I thought it suited her perfectly.

"You two okay?" Glenn asked, breaking the silence.

"We're fine." both Maggie and I answered at the same time. She turned to look at me and gave me a small smile before turning back around.

"I saw you back there." Glenn started, talking to Maggie. "The way you reacted when we killed the walker. Was that the first one you saw?"

I had wanted to ask her a similar question, and the fact Glenn was asking her made me feel better. This way if she didn't want to talk about it, I wouldn't ruin the friendship we had now.

She didn't answer, and Glenn took that as an invitation to keep talking. "I guess it's kinda a shock. You know being out on the road, we've seen a lot. Guess we've gotten a little numb to it."

She stopped the horse outside the pharmacy. "Guess so." she jumped off, Glenn following her.

"I'll keep watch out her. I'll yell if I see anything." I told them, staying on Shadow.

Maggie nodded as Glenn walked in. "Be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry about me." I smiled before she walked into the shop, leaving me outside by myself. And you know what? I was grateful for the alone time.

I sat on Shadow, petting her side and scratching her head. It was soothing, being able to just sit there and enjoy her company without having anything to worry about. I only ever really felt this relaxed when I was with Daryl...

Daryl Dixon. The redneck bad boy that I couldn't stop thinking about.

I wasn't stupid enough to think he felt the same way. As far as I was concerned he just stuck around me to make sure I was safe; after saving me so many times I guess we were friends now. I wanted more, but I didn't think it would happen.

We hadn't even talked about the kiss we shared after escaping the CDC. I wanted to. I wanted to know why he kissed me back. I wanted to know why we hadn't talked about it. I wanted to know if he felt anything. But asking him felt wrong. If he wanted to tell me, he would. It was none of my business otherwise.

"I guess you've got it easy girl." I mumbled to the horse as I slipped off her. "No need to talk about your feelings. You just mate and move on... stupid human emotions." I kicked a nearby rock.

 

...

 

On the way back to the farm I couldn't help but notice an awkwardness between Maggie and Glenn. He kept turning to Maggie with a look in his eyes like a school boy in love. While she looked at him like she had made a mistake... or at least that's what it looked like.

Whenever I tried to make conversation they just gave short one worded answers or ignored me all together. I looked to Maggie to see if she was okay, but she just mouthed that we'll talk later.

At that moment I guess I realised how important this friendship would be. Having another girl to talk to would help me out in more ways than I could think off. And vice versa. Now we could tell each other everything and not have to worry about being judged.

When we finally got back I jumped off the horse and handed Maggie the reins. "I'll see you inside later. I've just gotta get something first." I told her before moving towards my parents’ tent.

I went inside and quickly grabbed Carl's comic book he found while we were on the highway. I knew when he woke up he'd probably get bored easily, so I thought it would be nice to give it to him for something to do.

As I left the tent I bumped into someone who had been just standing there. Their hand grabbed my elbow to steady me. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

I looked up to see Shane standing there. I tugged my arm away before stepping back. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You and the farmer girl. You two seem awfully close... and she doesn't seem to like me. You tell her anything?"

I rolled my eyes then. "Back off Shane. What I do is none of your business... not anymore." I turned to walk away but he grabbed my arm and turned me back around.

"That's bull." he snapped, though kept his voice quiet. "You know I care about you. I love-"

"If you finish that sentence, I swear to god I will hurt you Shane. I don't care what I have to do, but I will make you regret it." I growled.

He just laughed. "You couldn't hurt me. Even if you tried." he stopped laughing then and looked down at me seriously, grabbing my wrist and pulling me closer. "And I don't want you going off anymore. You stick with the group. Stay where me and your dad know where you are."

"Shane let go of her 'fore I break your arm."

We both looked up to see Daryl walking over to us. Unlike Shane and I, he didn't try to keep his voice down, which got people to look over. With people watching, Shane let go of me and stepped back.

"Stop going off and leaving the group Vickie. You're stressing out your family, and they already have enough to deal with." Shane called as he walked off.

I turned to Daryl to see him looking at me with a slightly angry and surprised look. "You left?"

I rolled my eyes again and turned for the house, not bothering answering his question. In all honesty I didn't like disappointing him, so if I said nothing it would be fine. Well in theory...

Daryl caught up to me, walking by my side as I stormed off towards the house. "You left?" when I didn't answer, he grabbed my shoulder and stopped me before moving in front of me. "Why?"

"I went with Maggie and Glenn. I was fine." I tried to push past him.

He just kept a hold of me, not letting me move. "Are you crazy? What if something happened? What if you got hurt and there wasn't enough time to get you back? What if you were bitten by a walker? Did you ever think about what Rick and Lori would do? What about Carl? And me? God, I'd die if anything happened to you Vic. I swear." he snapped, his eyes holding more anger than surprise now. "I've already lost my brother. I don't want to lose you too!"

My eyes were wide as I watched him. "You really care that much?"

My question must have snapped him back to reality as the angry left his eyes and he realised what he said. He didn't say anything at first, just stood there looking at me, waiting to see if I'd laugh or something.

I guess he never expected me to smile. "I care about you too." I grabbed his hand. "I wanna show you something." I said before dragging him to the house.

**DPOV**

I couldn't believe what just happened. I don't know what shocked me more, the fact I told her or the fact she didn't laugh and walk away.

She dragged me into the house and then paused. "I have to give Carl something. I'll be right back." she smiled before walking off.

I thought about leaving. Just going back to my tent and leaving her to do whatever she wanted. It's not like she actually felt the same way. Sure, she said she did, but I never told her how I really feel... I didn't even know how I  _really_  felt.

She came back and grabbed my hand, smiling, walking us to the room she had been staying in. This morning she had asked Hershel if he wanted her to be with the rest of our group, but he had said no. She was to stay in the house until she was healed.

She closed the door before moving to the drawers by the bed, and pulled something out.

"I'm not sure if you do smoke, but I found these. I know T-Dog does, and I'm sure there are others who'd want to share. But I wanted to give them to you. So, you know, you could relax or something. I don't know?" she mumbled, handing me a small box.

I looked down and grinned. "Smokes?"

She just shrugged. "It's the thought that counts."

I just shook my head and pulled my bag off my shoulder before digging around the inside. When I felt what I was looking for I pulled it out and handed it to her. Her eyes lit up as she smiled.

"I noticed how you always brushed your hair at night and in the morning. Your brush was left at the CDC, so when I saw this on the highway I thought you might like it. I know it's somebody else’s, and I don't know if it's clean... but it still works good." I shrugged, biting my thumb nail.

She looked up at me then, her smile gone. "Do you ever think about that kiss?"

**VPOV**

I watched Daryl as he looked at me, his eyes wide. I had obviously caught him off guard with the question, but I wanted to know and I was tired of waiting for him to speak first.

"I think about it... a lot. I think about you a lot too. And I'm tired Daryl. I'm tired of pretending that I'm okay. Because I'm not. But when I'm with you, at least I feel a little better." I shrugged looking away, my back facing him.

Suddenly he turned me around and pulled me to him, his lips crashing on to mine.

I gasped at the sudden contact but soon enough fell into the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck as my stomach started to feel light, full of butterflies. My head spun, and I found my legs turning to jelly. His hands grasped my thighs before pulling my legs so they wrapped around his waist, pushing my body against his.

I pulled back to breathe, his lips moving to my jaw. I moaned, my hands running through his hair. His kisses started to get rougher as he sucked and nibbled on my skin, moving to my neck.

"You trying to mark me or something?" I moaned, holding his head closer to me.

He sucked harder and I knew that would leave a mark for later. "You're skins like silk. So soft." he mumbled against me.

I groaned at the sound of his voice, my hips starting to move against him. I could feel the bulge in his pants, growing with each second that went by. The feel of his excitement against me turning me on even more.

Suddenly I was pressed up against the wall, his hands massaging my thighs as he ground himself against me. I pulled his head back before pressing my lips against his.

His tongue slid over my lips and I couldn't resist giving him full access. I opened my mouth enough for his tongue to enter before it slid in my mouth running along the edges. I moaned once more, my tongue joining the dance.

He groaned this time and that was enough to push me over. I ripped his shirt open, sliding it off as my hands ran over his arms and chest. When I went to reach his back, he pulled away.

"No."

I paused, my heart sinking. "I'm sorry." I looked away, putting my legs down.

He just grabbed me and pulled me back up. "That's not what I meant. I don't want to stop, you just can't touch my back."

I didn't think of asking questions, even though I wanted to. Instead he pressed his lips against mine once more.

I felt his hand reaching between us, flicking the button of my shorts undone. His lips moved away when he noticed I had frozen. "You okay?" he asked, his hand resting on my stomach.

"I-I'm a virgin." I mumbled, hiding my face in the crook of his neck.

His hand moved away then, moving to rest on my thigh. "We can stop. You don't owe me nothin'."

I nodded, still holding him. "I want to, I'm just nervous." I shrugged.

He grabbed my chin and lifted my head so I'd look at him. "I'll be gentle." he murmured, kissing the corner of my mouth. "But we don't have to do anything if you don't want to."

I nodded once more, pressing my lips against his, but this time, instead of the hungry desire filled kiss, this one was gentle and sweet.

He placed me down and I handed him his shirt that was lying by the ground. He nodded, putting it back on, but not stepping back. I helped him do the buttons up, my hands running along his chest.

He leaned down kissing my neck. I smiled, lifting my head to kiss him back. With the fire gone we were left with sweet gentle kisses that gave me goosebumps.

There was a knock on the door and suddenly Maggie walked in.

"Oh, god. I'm sorry." she mumbled, turning away before walking back out.

I grinned, looking up at Daryl who was looking at the door with an unreadable expression.

"She knows about Shane. About what happened at the CDC." I told him, my grin falling. "I told her after she noticed the way I spoke to him. She didn't want me to stay here with him if she was gone and so were you. So, I went with her on a supply run because I thought I'd be safer."

He turned back to me though I still couldn't read his expression, so I went on. "I needed to tell someone, and a part of me knew I could trust her. So, I told her everything." I shrugged, his hand cupping my cheek. "Daryl, I trust you with my life, and my family's too. But I can't tell them. And I guess telling Maggie helps, you know?"

He nodded, placing a kiss on my forehead. I had never really seen this part of Daryl. I mean I've seen him care about me and worry all the time. I knew he wasn't like this with anyone else, and I guess I knew that before. But it's like, after what just happened between us, everything was clearer.

"Come on." he stepped back, grabbing my hand. "Better go get some dinner."

**Bamby**


	8. Sophia's Doll, Merle's Company

**VPOV**

I woke up alone. Daryl had gone to stay in his tent last night. After Maggie had seen us she couldn't stop grinning at me. I guess Daryl noticed, and he kept his distance after that.

I decided then and there that I would tell Hershel that I was fine and that I'd be staying with the rest of my group from then on. I didn't exactly like the idea of being in the house when the people I cared about were outside in the cold...

I headed for the camp area, where I saw a few people huddled around the hood of Carol's Cherokee. Daryl was one of them.

Walking towards them he looked up and I could see him trying to hide his smile. I stopped next to him turning to the group. "What are you guys talking about?"

"We're heading out. We've set areas where teams can search. Try and get this more organised." dad told me.

"You wanna join?" Andrea asked, grabbing her gun off the hood of the car. "Could use more eyes."

Dad looked me up and down before shaking his head. "I think you should stay here. Don't work yourself too hard. You can help keep an eye out for walkers here at camp."

I nodded, turning to walk away. I took a few steps before I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I didn't even need to turn to know it was Daryl.

"Stay on the farm this time." he said, his southern accent giving me butterflies.

I nodded, turning around. "No problem." I smiled.

He looked around before taking a step closer. "You staying in the house again tonight?" I shook my head and he nodded, biting his thumb nail. "If you can sneak away, you can join me in my tent." he shrugged. "If you want."

I grinned, a small laugh escaping. "You sound a bit confident there, Mr Dixon." I took a step closer and noticed the way his eyes searched for other's watching, holding his breath. "I'll see you there." I smiled before turning on my heels.

I noticed mum and Carol folding clothes, both of them looking in our direction. Carol smiling knowingly, while mum just shook her head and looked back down at the clothes.

**DPOV**

I was riding on the horse, looking out for Sophia, when all I could think about was Victoria. The way she felt in my arms. The way her moans filled my ears. Her lips so soft. Her hands gentle one moment, rough the next as she pushed me against her. The way she rubbed herself against me as I kissed her, grinding against my groin.

Jeez, the thought alone was enough to get me hard again.

I stopped, seeing something down in the creek. I jumped off the horse moving towards it. It was Sophia's doll...

"Sophia!" I called, though there was no response.

I moved back to the horse jumping back on before continuing looking for Sophia. I didn't see the snake on the ground, but the horse did. And before I knew it I was flying off it and rolling down a hill.

When I landed I groaned in pain, one of my arrows had gone through my side. "Son of a bitch."

I crawled out of the water, holding on to my side. The pain was bad, but I wasn't going to just sit there. Once I was out of the water I ripped my sleeves off, tying them around my waist to help with the bleeding.

There was rustling behind me, coming from the bushes and I gathered it was a walker. Unfortunately, my crossbow was still in the water, so I quietly moved, grabbing a stick, before using it to dig around in the water to find my crossbow. Once I had it I used the stick to help me walk before moving to the steep hill and pulling myself up. There was no way I was going to die here.

**VPOV**

I stood on the top of the RV with Dale, waiting for the others to come back. I had asked everyone if there was anything I could do to help, but all of them had told me to go rest. I was starting to feel like a cripple.

"Do you know how to shoot?" Dale asked, noticing how I held the rifle.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, but my parents don't know." I shrugged.

He grinned. "Who taught you?"

My smile fell then. "Shane."

"Oh." he nodded, his grin disappearing. "Do your parents know about him?"

I turned to him, not believing what I just heard. "Is it that obvious?"

He just shook his head. "But I notice these things. Like the way Daryl watches over you. The way you two act around each other. I'm guessing you haven't told your parents about him either?"

I shook my head. "But there's not much to tell. I mean sure we're close, but we haven't really done anything." I shrugged. "I told him how I feel and he kissed me. But we haven't done anything." I assured him. "Sorry." I sighed. "You probably don't want to hear this."

Instead he asked. "And you and Shane?" he gave me a pointed look.

I just shook my head. "I've done nothing with him that I haven't done with Daryl." I said, looking away.

"Room for another up there?" Andrea asked as she walked towards the RV.

"Come on up." I called, offering her a hand as she climbed the ladder. I gave her the rifle, knowing she'd want it, before sitting down.

**DPOV**

I was lying on the ground, listening to my brother go on. I knew I was hallucinating, but I still couldn't help but feel agitated at how he spoke to me.

"You really think you belong?" Merle asked, crouching down beside me. "None of them care 'bout you."

"That's not true." I mumbled.

He laughed. "Yeah and who cares, hm? Asian boy? The cop? Hm?"

"Vic." I mumbled, squinting my eyes at the sun.

"Vic?"

I nodded. "Rick's daughter."

That just made Merle laugh again. "You screwin' the sheriff's daughter? Why, I never thought you had it in ya. But this? When are you gonna tell the cop? Bet he'll be real mad when he finds out." Merle laughed harder.

"It's not like tha'." I groaned.

"What, you feel somethin' for 'er?" Merle shook his head. "Girl's good fo' nothin' but screwin'."

"Screw you. She's more than that." I growled.

Merle stood up, kicking my foot. "Well better get up then. Go get your girl. Tell her you  _love_  'er." he shook his head, kicking my foot again. "Let's go."

I looked up, hearing snarling, to see a walker chewing my boot. I got up, trying to crawl away as he moved towards me. But I wasn't going to let it kill me. I needed to get back. I needed to find Sophia. They needed me. Victoria needed me...

**VPOV**

We stayed there in silence, Dale getting down to go get some water. Andrea and I weren't friends exactly, but we weren't enemy's either. Amy and I had been somewhat close, so I enjoyed Andrea's company sometimes... just as long as she didn't complain about anything.

She looked through the scope, searching the area.

Dad had insisted that we didn't deal with any of the walkers, but I could see how Andrea and Shane thought we shouldn't leave our safety in the hands of strangers. I didn't mind Hershel, Maggie and the others; if anything, I trusted them. But I understood where Andrea and Shane stood.

"Walker. Walker!" Andrea called.

"Just the one?" dad asked, on the ground, trying to look for it.

"I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea said, getting the gun more comfortable as she got ready to shoot.

"No, Andrea, no." dad yelled, knowing how Hershel would react.

I didn't give another thought before I jumped off the roof, taking Daryl's knife out of my pocket before following T-Dog and Glenn as they ran towards the walker. Shane and my dad running with us, each person with a weapon in hand.

When we got closer I swear my heart stopped.

"Is that Daryl?" Glenn asked.

Dad had his gun pointing at Daryl. "That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" he snapped at dad.

He looked... like a walker. Blood around his mouth, his clothes dirty and ripped. He even limped like a walker, and I noticed how he was bleeding. But I was so relieved to see he was still... Daryl.

I smiled, taking a step forward when the sound of a gun went off and he fell to the ground.

"No!" I screamed, falling to his side. "Daryl? Daryl?!"

He brushed his head, where the bullet grazed and looked up at me. "I'm fine." he mumbled before my dad and I helped him up. "I was kidding, man." he groaned at my dad once we had him up, one arm draped over dad's shoulder, the other draped over mine.

Shane moved forward, offering to help and dad told me to move, knowing I wouldn't be able to move as fast with how heavy he was.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, is he dead?" Andrea asked as she ran up to us with Dale close behind.

"Back off." I snapped.

Dad just gave me a pointed look before turning back to her. "Unconscious. You just grazed him."

"But look at him. What the hell happened? He's wearing ears." Glenn pointed out. Sure enough, around his neck was a rope with ears on it.

Dad ripped it off, handing it to me. "Let keep that to ourselves." he mumbled and I nodded before shoving them in my pocket.

"Hey guys, isn't this Sophia's?"

We all turned to see T-Dog holding Sophia's doll. And it was like a I was punched in the face with a tidal wave of emotions. Relief that we have a sign she's out there. Horror that Daryl came back the way he is, with just a doll. And wonder, that maybe all hope isn't lost...

**Bamby**


	9. Love?

**VPOV**

We all sat in the room I had been staying in as Hershel worked on fixing up Daryl. I sat on the bed next to Daryl, holding his hand. I knew my dad was there, watching, but I was too worried about Daryl to care.

"I found it washed up on the creek bed back there. She must have dropped it crossing there somewhere." Daryl said, talking about Sophia's doll.

"Cuts the grid almost in half." dad mumbled.

Daryl groaned, and I squeezed his hand, feeling so guilty. If I hadn't of let Sophia go, he wouldn't be hurt right now. "Yeah, you're welcome." he told my dad, though I noticed the way he looked at me, wanting to say something but keeping quiet with the others around.

"How's he looking?" I asked Hershel, looking away from those blue eyes I loved so much.

_Love?_

"I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly. Any idea what happened to my horse?" Hershel replied, cleaning up the supplies.

"Yeah, the one that almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country." I smiled at Daryl, thankful he was back to his normal self. He gave me a small smile in return, pulling my hand closer to him.

"We call that one Nellie. As in nervous Nellie. I could have told you she'd throw you, if you'd bothered to ask. It's a wonder you people have survived this long." Hershel stood by my dad, and I fought not to snap at him for speaking that way.

"We should let him rest." Shane stood up from the chair in the had been silent this whole time, and I had almost forgotten he was with us.

"Shane's right." dad nodded, moving to the door. When I didn't follow the three of them he turned to me. "You coming?"

I shook my head, pulling my legs up next to Daryl. "I'm gonna stay awhile longer." I told him.

He gave a short nod before leaving, closing the door behind him.

"It ain't you fault."

I looked down at Daryl and smiled. "You've been holding on to that for a while, huh?"

He just shrugged, moving so he was more comfortable, and at the same time pulling me closer. I laughed getting the idea as I snuggled up to him, feeling safe and warm.

**DPOV**

I watched Victoria as she slept, holding her hand as I moved closer to her. It hurt to move, but when she shivered I couldn't help but move closer, wrapping an arm around her.

The door opened as Carol walked in, two plates in hand. I had a blanket around me, and pulled it up high so she wouldn't see my back, as she placed the plates on the bedside table. "I brought you both dinner."

"Thanks." I mumbled, not moving away from Victoria.

"How are you feeling?"

"About as good as I look."

"You need to know something." I turned to look at her, listening to what she wanted to say. "You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy ever did in his whole life."

"I didn't do anything Rick wouldn't have done."

"I know. You're every bit as good as him. Every bit." I felt her kiss my cheek before she walked out, closing the door behind her.

I turned back around, looking at Victoria, wondering if she thought the same about me. If she would look at me proudly and gratefully like Carol.

**VPOV**

I woke up to the sound of a door closing.

Daryl moved slightly, probably noticing me stirring as I woke. He smiled at me, leaning over and placing a kiss on my cheek.

"How long did I sleep?" I asked, smiling as I cuddled up to him more.

He shrugged, placing a kiss on my temple. "Couple of hours."

I nodded, feeling his lips brush the corner of my lips as he placed a kiss there. "I should get into my pyjamas." I mumbled, getting up, making sure I kept my back to Daryl.

I had left my bag in here luckily. I quickly pulled out my black tank top and red pyjama shorts. I slipped my top off, unhooking my bra before pulling my tank top on. I slid out of my jeans, then pulled my shorts on letting them rest on my hips. I pulled my hair out of its plait, running my fingers through it before turning back to the bed.

Daryl laid there, his eyes looking my body up and down with lust and desire. I pulled the blankets back before sliding under them, but I didn't snuggle up to him this time.

His hand rested on my arm as he tugged me closer, but I shook my head. "You're hurt." I said, knowing what he wanted. If I was to move closer to him, we wouldn't be sleeping...

He shrugged, tugging me more. "Why does that matter?"

I scoffed. "Just by looking at you I can tell you want to tear my clothes off. I won't let you hurt yourself."

He stopped tugging my arm, and instead he ran his hand down to my waist where my skin was bare from my shirt ridding up. His finger lightly brushed my skin, and that small touch was enough to build my own desire.

My breath started to come out heavy, my eyes closing. His hand moved so it rested on my stomach, playing with the hem of my pants. When he tried to move forward I stopped him before moving myself, so I was closer to him.

His hand slid into my pants, running over my underwear as he rubbed me through the material. I moaned, moving my hips against his hand.

"Daryl." I breathed, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

He groaned, his finger moving faster but not moving the offending material. "God, so wet." his voice was deep and husky with desire. "Hardly touched ya an' you're already so wet."

His voice, the way he spoke to me, it turned me on more. I moaned, grinding myself against him hard.

He grinned, his lips moving to my neck where he sucked on my skin probably leaving another mark. "I don't want to hurt you." he mumbled. "Gonna have to get you ready." his fingers pushed my underwear to the side before he rubbed the throbbing nub.

I groaned, pulling him closer at the contact. "God, Daryl!"

His lips moulded with mine, kissing me gently but urgently. "Shh. Don't want people to hear us." I nodded, trying to keep my moans down.

He slipped in a finger, and I nearly screamed at how good it felt. He pumped in and out, curling his finger. He hit a spot that made my body shake with pleasure as I groaned against his lips.

When he slid in a second finger I couldn't stop myself from biting his lip. He growled, though it was more pleasurable than painful. His tongue pushing into my mouth where it tangled with mine.

He pulled back, panting as he moved his fingers harder. "You feel so good, wish I was inside you right now. Make you scream my name if no one was 'round."

His fingers kept rubbing against that spot and suddenly I felt something explode as I bit my lip trying to stifle the screams of pleasure coming from my orgasm.

When I came down from the orgasm I couldn't help but smile up at him, kissing his cheek.

"You okay?" he asked, kissing my forehead and sliding his hand out of my pants.

I laughed. "Says the guy who had an arrow go through him today." I leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I'm fine." I mumbled before he kissed me back.

His hand moved to the other side of me before he pulled himself up, leaning over me. He grunted in pain, his eyes closed; but when I went to lead him back down he shook his head, leaning down and kissing my neck.

"Were you scared?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair.

He shrugged, placing another kiss on my shoulder this time. "I just kept thinkin' about you. I knew I had to get back, keep you safe."

I smiled. "Think I can do just fine on my own."

He looked at me then, grinning. "Oh really?" I nodded in response. "And how many times have I saved your ass?" he asked.

"More times than I can count." I answered seriously, looking at him through hooded eyes. "Thank you, by the way."

His grin fell as he nodded, lying back down beside me. "Don' mention it." he mumbled, wrapping an arm around me.

I wriggled closer to him, rolling over to look at him. His eyes were closed, as he tried to get to sleep. Moving so I was pressed against his chest, I smiled and closed my eyes too.

"Daryl?"

"Mmm?"

I yawned, sleep taking over. "I love you."

 

...

 

Waking up I found Daryl still fast asleep. I guess his body needed the rest. So, I slipped out of bed and ducked out of the room, and made my way down the hall.

"Sleep well?" I jumped at the sound of Maggie's voice, turning to see her grinning from ear to ear. She sat at the table drinking a glass of water.

I rolled my eyes, smiling. "Yeah." I shrugged.

She just shook her head, still grinning. "Your mum and dad were talkin' about you last night. Rick wanted Lori to get you. Guess the cat's out of the bag." her grin fell.

I shrugged, sitting across from her. "I'm an adult. I can do what I want."

She sighed, looking down at her hands holding the glass. "Wish my dad would leave me alone."

"He knows about you and Glenn?"

She looked up her eyes wide with surprise. "How'd you-"

I laughed. "Come on, he was grinning like he won first prize at the fair when the two of you walked out of the store the other day. It wasn't too hard to figure it out. So, how was he?" She just laughed and shook her head, so I went on. "That bad huh? Or small?"

"Vickie?" she exclaimed, looking around smiling. "Quiet down, someone will hear."

"What that you and Glenn-"

"Fine, fine. It was great." she pushed in. " _He_ was great." her blushing cheeks were obvious and I couldn't help but be happy for her.

But that wasn't going to stop me from joking around. "That it? No details? I mean come on, I wanna know everything."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll tell when you tell. How was Daryl?"

I shrugged. "Nothing happened." She raised her eyebrow in disbelief. "I'm serious. Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened when?"

We both turned to look at the door to see Patricia standing there.

"Oh, we were just talking about stuff from the past." I shrugged. "Sharing horror stories and what not."

She nodded, though I could tell she didn't really buy it. "Well Carl wanted me to get you."

I got out of my seat, moving to the room where my brother was. He had been awake for a while, I just hadn't seen him yet. I felt guilty in a way. If I hadn't of told Sophia to run off without me, she would be safe, Carl would have never got shot and even Daryl would be fine. But I couldn't ignore him any longer.

"Hey buddy." I smiled walking to the chair by his bed. "How you feeling?"

He smiled, sitting up. "Hershel said I can go out today."

"That's good, buddy." I nodded, reaching for his hand and holding it.

He sighed. We had always been close. I'm not sure why, but unlike a lot of siblings, we were like best friends. So we could tell what the other was feeling, just by looking at them; and I knew he could tell I felt guilty.

"You tried to save her. Sophia and you would have died if you didn't tell her to run. And it's not your fault I got shot. It was an accident."

"I know."

"But you keep feeling guilty for it. It's not your fault. It just happened. And now look where we are. If it wasn't for everything, we'd never found Hershel and his family." he smiled, squeezing my hand.

I smiled, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "When did you grow up to be so wise?"

He just smiled back and honestly, it felt like things were going to be okay from then on. Life was turning back around, and everything felt... right.

**Bamby**


	10. Mind Your Business

**VPOV**

"Don't look so worried." Carl told mum, noticing that she kept watching him.

"It's my job."

"No, it's not. You're a housewife." he shrugged. I laughed, throwing more seeds at the chickens.

Mum threw some seeds at Carl, smiling. "Yeah punk? You see my house around here?" Carl just grinned. "A housewife." she mumbled, looking at me.

I shrugged. "He's your son."

She just shook her head, so I went back to feeding the birds. It was nice. I mean we live in a world where we kill and run from these monsters. We're always alert and ready to pick everything up and leave. We were fugitives, fighting for our lives. But here, at this moment I was just Victoria Grimes with my mum and brother feeding chickens. It was so boring, so normal that it almost felt like the world wasn't falling apart.

"They don't have a mother."

I looked up when Carl spoke. He was talking about the bundle of chicks he was feeding. They stuck together, and he was right, there was no mum.

"Well she might be somewhere else." mum answered, not giving it a thought. But I knew what Carl was saying. I knew what he meant.

"Maybe she got eaten." he said it so casually that it took me a moment to think about how morbid that sounded. He reached to grab more seeds, while mum and I just looked at him with disbelief. "Everything's food for something else." he shrugged, continuing as if he hadn't said something creepy.

"God, morbid much." I said, hoping to lighten the mood. "You'd think you were a mini emo or something kid." I stood and ruffled his hair. "I'll see you later." I mumbled before heading towards camp.

"Where are you going?" mum called.

I shrugged, not turning to look at her. "Camp." was all I said. I didn't owe her an explanation or anything. I was free to do what I want.

**DPOV**

I sat in my tent, bored out of my brain. With my injury Hershel and Rick refused to let me help them search for Sophia. But that meant I had to lie around, and there was nothing more annoying than sitting around and being useless.

I used one of my arrows to poke holes in the mesh of my tent, trying to think of something to cure my boredom when Andrea came in.

"Hey." she sighed, taking a seat. "This is not that great, but..." she handed me a book.

I flicked through the pages before asking, "What, no pictures?"

That caused her to smile. "I'm so sorry. I feel like shit."

I placed the book down, and adjusted my pillow. "Yeah, you and me both."

"I don't expect you to forgive me, but if there's anything I can do..."

"You were trying to protect the group. We're good." I reassured her. She smiled and got up without saying a word, getting out of my tent. When she stepped out I called back to her. "But hey, shoot me again, and you'd best pray I'm dead."

She turned around and walked off. When I thought she was gone, I looked through the mesh window by me and saw her walk towards Victoria.

They talked, and just by looking at Vic I could tell she was less than impressed. She said something back to Andrea, which made the other girl flinch, before walking past her and heading for my tent.

**VPOV**

"Victoria."

I looked up to see Andrea heading towards me. She stopped once she reached me and gave me an apologetic look. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I know you were really upset yesterday after I... shot Daryl. And I was hoping you'd forgive me. It was an accident, and I don't want you to hate me because of it."

I shrugged. "Firstly, yeah, I was upset, but so were a lot of people. And secondly, I don't hate you. But I don't like you either. And why are you apologising to me. You should be going to my dad."

"Well I noticed you and Daryl have been getting closer and I gathered-"

I cut her off. "That means nothing. It's no one’s business so you should just stay out of it." I snapped, noticing how she flinched. But I didn't care. I just walked past her, heading for Daryl's tent.

As I got closer I looked into his window and saw him watching me. I sighed, knowing he saw what just happened with Andrea, and knew he was going to say something about it. I entered the tent and stood, waiting for him to speak.

"What did you say to Andrea?"

I rolled my eyes. "She started talking about us and I told her to mind her own business. Is that wrong?"

"No, but it it's hard to keep things secret around here. And it's harder to stay out of people's business." he noted, moving over and patting the spot next to him.

I sat down before lying next to him. "I just don't want people thinking bad things." I sighed.

"What would they think?" I looked over at him and noticed the way he didn't look at me, as if I had said something that offended him.

"Oh no. I meant, before all of this it would have been odd for a guy like you to go out with a girl like me." I reassured him, hoping he wasn't offended.

"A guy like me."

I let my head fall back as I looked away from him. "I should just keep my mouth shut."

I felt him shift next to me so he was on his side looking at me. "A red-neck? You can say it, I know."

My hand reached up to cup his cheek as I shook my head. "You're older than me, that's what I meant." I sat up, moving closer to him. "That's all."

He nodded moving back to lie down again. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to, and that was something I liked most about Daryl. We could sit in silence and still know what the other was feeling or thinking.

"I should go get something to eat. Do you want anything?" I stood up.

"Glenn's walking around handing out peaches and jerky." he grinned.

I smiled and nodded. "Coming right up." I said before heading out.

I saw Glenn standing by the RV by himself. I headed over to him hoping there'd still be enough jerky for Daryl. He was looking over at the barn nervously, but I decided not to ask him anything about it. After all I just told Andrea to mind her own business, so I should do the same.

"Got anything left?" I asked, smiling when he jumped at the sound of my voice.

"Uh, yeah." he picked the basket up off the floor. "Not much jerky left though."

I shrugged and grabbed the last three pieces. "I don't want any. But this should be enough for Daryl." I grabbed a couple of peaches too, placing them in the little carrier bag I was carrying around with me all the time these days. Maggie had given it to me.

"Daryl, huh?"

I looked up from my bag to see Glenn nodding, looking away. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I never thought the two of you, would end up together." he shrugged. "I don't mean there's something wrong with that, I just... I hoped you'd like me when we started getting to know each other back at the camp out at Atlanta."

My eyes suddenly became glued to a rock by my foot. "Glenn..."

"Don't worry. I saw it happening awhile back. I got over it."

I turned my gaze back to him, his smile putting me at ease. "Anyway, you and Maggie are a thing now." I shrugged. His smile faltered as he started to blush. "Don't worry, you're secrets safe with me." I winked before walking around to the other side of the RV.

Dale, Shane, mum and dad stood around, while Carl sat away from them. I headed over to see what was happening, deciding to sit with Carl.

"What's up bud?" I ruffled his hair.

He sighed. "Shane caught me with a gun."

My eyes went wide. "What on Earth were you doing with a gun?"

"I want to learn how to shoot. I want to go out and help look for Sophia. And I know I'll be able to help if I can protect myself." he shrugged. I could tell he was annoyed at the fact everyone was upset with him.

I relaxed. There was some truth behind his words, and I understood what he was saying. "I tell you what. I'll show you how to use a gun later it you want."

He looked up, excited. "You know how to shoot?"

I shushed him, not wanting my parents to know. "Shane taught me a while back."

He was about to speak when I gestured for him to be quiet. We sat there listening to what the others were saying. Mum was going on about how she didn't think it was a good idea, while dad argued with her.

Suddenly Carl stood. "I'm not going to play with it mum. It's not a toy. I'm sorry I disappointed you, but I want to look for Sophia and I want to defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun."

I looked at my brother proudly before getting up and heading back to Daryl. There was no need for me to hang around. He had aid everything he needed to convince both my parents to let him go out there.

"Vickie!"

I groaned before turning to see Shane walking over to me. "What do you want?"

He shook his head. "You know I'm tired of this game you're playing."

"What game?" I asked, playing dumb. "Do you mean the 'game' where I tell you to back off and stay away from me because you tried to rape me back at the CDC?"

His eyes darted around, looking for anyone who could have over heard me. He stopped in front of me, changing the subject. "Are you coming with us to practise?"

I shook my head. "I know how to shoot. I don't need to go."

"So, you're staying?"

"Obviously."

"With Daryl?"

I laughed. "That's what you really wanted to know. Will I be going with you or staying with Daryl? Well let’s see..." I hummed, pretending to think about it for a moment. "I think I'm gonna stay."

"I don't like you hanging around him. He's bad news, Vickie."

My sarcasm faded as I glared at him. "Call me Vickie again and I'll use  _you_  to practise shooting." I snapped. "And I don't want to hear you speak about Daryl and me anymore. It's none of your business." with that I turned and continued for Daryl's tent.

 

...

Once everyone was gone I walked out of the tent. Daryl was asleep, the pain killers Hershel gave him knocking him out. I walked around the camp a little, wanting to know whose around, when I heard Dale and Glenn talking.

"What makes you think Lori's pregnant?" Dale asked.

I peeked around one of the tents to look at them. Glenn just shrugged. "She asked me to get her some tests, and I found out they were positive. Okay?" they went on talking, but I walked away, shocked.

My mum and I were close, so there was no way she'd be pregnant and not tell me, right?

**Bamby**


	11. Distracting Passion

**VPOV**

"You alright?"

I jumped at the sound of Daryl's voice. Looking over at him I could see he was wide awake, staring at me with a look in his eyes that made my stomach do flips.

I knelt on the bed before lying down. "I-I'm fine." I shrugged. As much as I wanted to tell him what I just heard, I didn't want to say anything without knowing for sure. If my mum was pregnant, she'd tell me or at least my dad... I hoped.

Daryl grinned, leaning forward and placing a kiss on my shoulder. "Whose still at camp?"

I swallowed, feeling a heat rise in me as he continued to place kisses along my shoulder, moving up to my neck. "Dale, Glenn, Hershel and Maggie."

"Where are they?"

I closed my eyes, loving the feeling of his lips on my skin. "Her-Hershel and Maggie are by the house. Dale's going to talk to Hershel, and Glenn's on top of the RV." his hand rested on my hips, his fingers sliding under my shirt, lightly brushing my skin. "Daryl?"

"Mmm?" he asked, nibbling on my jawbone.

"What are you doing?" I moaned, trying to stay quiet so Glenn wouldn't hear.

His hand gently rolled me over so I was lying on my back. Earlier I had closed the tent door, zipping it up to keep flies out. He reached over and dropped the window cover. We were alone in the tent, our own world.

"I was dreamin' about you." he mumbled, leaning over me. His hand slipped under my shirt, holding my waist.

I pulled myself up, placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Was it a nice dream?" I pulled back before he could kiss me.

He growled, gripping on to my waist tighter than before. "Don't tease me Vic. Not if you wanna keep things slow."

My hands slid up his arms, moving behind his head before I ran my fingers through his hair. I pulled his head closer, whispering in his ear. "I never said I wanna take it slow."

His grip tightened even more before he pressed his lips against mine. His lips were warm. Chills ran over my skin as fire burned inside me. He pressed himself against me, his fingers digging into my waist.

The kiss was fierce and powerful, full of heat and want. I responded hungrily, pulling him closer to me.

I broke away from the kiss, needing some air. His lips trailed down my neck. It felt like he was everywhere. He was all I could feel. My head spun, everything becoming a foggy mess. His lips trailed back up to my lips again.

I let my hands slide down to the hem of his shirt, wanting to feel his skin. I collected the material before tossing it over his head and throwing it to the other side of the tent. My hands ran over his chest, taking in every detail.

He groaned against my lips before his hands worked on the buttons of my shirt. When he got to the last one, it wouldn't undo, so he simply tore the shirt open, tearing the button off and discarding the offending material.

I turned my head and gave a laugh. "Someone's impatient."

But all I got was another growl before his lips slid down to my breasts, where he nibbled on the skin above my bra. I moaned, my back arching off the thin mattress, pressing my chest against his mouth.

Taking advantage of this, Daryl's hands worked on undoing my bra. Once it was unclasped he pulled it off, all the while continuing his nibbles on my breast. As soon as they were free, and the bra was gone and forgotten, his lips moved to the rosy buds; nibbling and sucking, causing me to moan with a need and desire I never knew I could hold.

He looked up at me, his eyes amused at the sounds coming from me. His lips were replaced by his hands as he smirked down at me. "Might wanna keep it down. Don't wanna get caught." his lips fell on to mine as we kissed urgently, trying to keep up with the hunger growing inside. I opened my mouth slightly, his tongue slipping in tangling with mine.

Suddenly both of us were working on undressing each other. Our hands worked fast as we got rid of the rest of our clothes until we were naked.

Daryl rested himself between my thighs. I moaned at every touch of his member as it brushed against my core. My hands tangled in his hair, my legs wrapped around his waist. His lips left sweet kisses behind my ear, his hands resting on the mattress.

"Are you sure?" he was giving me a way out, a chance to change my mind and run.

I nodded, unable to speak. My body was on fire, aching and yearning for his touch. There was a deep need, an animal calling inside that wanted something I could quiet understand. There was no part of me that didn't want this.

He pushed into me, and a hot pain washed over me as he pushed further. I bit my lips, muffling a scream. My teeth pierced my lips, the taste of blood coating my tongue. Tears sprung, and I couldn't help but whimper in pain.

Daryl froze, his lips hovering over that spot behind my ear. He slowly lifted his head to look at me, the guilt in his eyes both warming my heart and building my own guilt.

"It’s okay, you can move." I tried to smile to reassure him.

He shook his head. "I hurt you didn' I? God, I'm sorry." his forehead rested on mine.

I kissed his cheek, the pain lessening slowly. "Really Daryl, I'm fine." I moved against him, pushing him in deeper slightly to prove I was okay.

He nodded, that movement enough to render him speechless. Instead he started moving, gently and slowly. My head was foggy as I clung to him, moving with him. Slowly the pain turned to pleasure, and before I knew it we were moving faster.

I moaned, my nail digging into his shoulders. "Harder Daryl. Please." I needed something, something deep in me, and I knew going harder would bring me closer.

He groaned, one of his hands gripping my thigh hard as he pounded into me. Faster and harder, louder and closer. We moved together, the sound of skin slapping against skin and our moans filling my ears.

He moved, repositioning himself. He pushed in and I let out a moan so loud I was sure we were busted.

"Wha-what was that?" I asked as he continued to pound into me.

I opened my eyes to see him smirking. "G-spot." the more he pushed on to that spot the better everything felt.

The feeling inside me was suddenly closer, in reach, but I panicked. My whole body felt like it was on fire, like it was about to erupt. My head was dizzy, my pulse pounding. It felt so wrong yet so right; and I was scared.

"Stop, please." I moaned. "I'm gonna explode. Please, stop."

Daryl just shook his head. "Not yet. Gotta let you finish first."

"Fin-" I couldn't even finish the sentence. Suddenly a feeling of pleasure overcame me. It started from my core and rippled through my body. I groaned, Daryl still pumping into me as I rode out the explosion.

"That's it." Daryl kissed my jaw bone as he pulled out. "One more." he warned before pushing in harder than before. His mouth pressed over mine, muffling my scream as he groaned, twitching underneath me.

He stopped moving and rolled off me, panting. I rolled, looking over at him to see sweat covering his body, and a satisfied, happy gleam in his eyes.

My eyes landed on his bandages, and I couldn't help but feel horrible. "You okay?"

He turned his head towards me. "You kiddin'?" he reached over and pulled his blankets over us before pulling me closer to him. "Never better."

"But you're-"

He cut me off with a kiss. "But nothin'." he gave me a pointed look and I nodded knowing there was nothing else to say. "Just sleep."

I kissed him sweetly before closing my eyes. No questions, nothing. I simply fell asleep in his arms feeling relaxed and happy.

 

...

 

The sounds of people talking woke me up. I groaned, curling up closer to Daryl as I tried to get back to sleep.

He chuckled. "Come on, we should get up." he nudged me.

I shook my head, looking up at him. "You're to comfy." I smiled.

He grinned, leaning down to kiss me. When our lips parted he sighed. "We should get up, see how everythin' went." I nodded, though I didn't really wanna get up; but I knew he was right.

Sitting up I started to get dressed, looking for my clothes that were strewn all over the place. As I was buttoning up my shirt I noticed most of the bottom buttons were ripped off. Turning to Daryl I shook my head. "How am I supposed to explain this?"

He grinned, grabbed the bottom corners of the shirt and tied it, leaving my midriff bare. "No explanation needed." he shrugged.

Rolling my eyes, I reached over, saddling his lap as I helped him with his own shirt buttons. His eyes went dark, his hands gripping on to my thighs. But I ignored him as I continued to do his buttons.

He kissed my neck, pulling me closer as I finished. "How'd a guy like me end up with a gir' like you?" he murmured against my skin.

I closed my eyes, loving the feeling of him close. "You saved my life remember?" he kissed me again, pushing my body against his as his hands moved to the buttons on my shirt. That was enough for me to stand up and take a step back. "You're the one that said we should get up. So, come on." I grinned before opening the tent door and slipping out.

He was close behind me, as we made our way to the others. They had just gotten back, and it seemed the practise went well.

"I'm gonna go talk to Rick."

I looked over at Daryl who just looked over at me. I nodded. Even though I wanted to know why he wanted to talk to my dad, I knew he wouldn't say anything. So, I just watched as he headed off.

"Vickie!" I looked over at Carl who stood with T-Dog and Glenn. "Come here." he smiled from ear to ear.

I headed towards them, smiling back. "Let me guess, you did good?"

Carl just nodded while T-Dog spoke up. "One of the best there."

"Hey, do you think Daryl will teach me how to track?" Carl asked me, looking at me hopeful.

"Why are you asking me?"

Carl just shrugged. "You're his girlfriend."

T-Dog and Glenn choked on laughs while I just glared at them. Turning back to Carl I sighed. "You'll have to ask him, kid."

"Okay, bye." and with that he rushed over to where Daryl and dad stood.

I turned back to T-Dog and Glenn. "What's so funny?"

T-Dog grinned before walking off. "Nothing. Just nothing." he called over his shoulder.

I looked at Glenn, waiting for him to answer. His smile fell as he realised we were alone. "Uh, I gotta go."

"Yeah." I called as he walked off. "Run away, chicken."

**Bamby**


	12. The Woods

**DPOV**

"Daryl, how are you feeling?"

I headed up to Rick who stood by the hood of the car looking over the map for the millionth time. I waited until I stood by him before I spoke up. "Better. But I wish I could help more."

"Well," he turned away from the map and looked at me. "You could start by telling me what's going on between you and my daughter."

I kept my cool. No Dixon showed weakness, and well Victoria was my weakness. If Rick or Lori decided we couldn't be together, it would kill me. But I'd never admit that to anyone- probably not even Vic- because showing your weakness gives others the chance to hurt you.

Rick nodded, knowing I wasn't going to say anything. "Don't get me wrong Daryl, you're an asset to the group. You help protect us and hunt for us, and I know you can protect her. But I want to know your intentions."

I looked away slightly, seeing Vic talking with T-Dog, Carl and Glenn. "I won't hurt 'er if that's what you mean."

"You can hurt people in different ways, not just by hitting them. So, I guess what I'm trying to ask is... do you like her? Or is it just because everything's changed?"

Turning back to look at Rick I saw something I'd never seen before, and to be honest... it scared me. It was the look of a protective father, one that would do anything he needed to keep his family safe. I didn't doubt that included hurting people.

"She means a lot to me Rick. I'd never hurt her." I looked him in the eyes, my voice flat and unwavering. I needed him to know that I cared for Vic, that I'd do anything to keep her safe. I may not be able to say I love her, but those feelings were building faster than I expected.

He nodded, turning back to the map. "You better not hurt her, I'd hate to have to find a new hunter." there was no joking tone, no smile. He was serious.

"Hey, Daryl." Carl stood between Rick and me. The kid was beyond happy, drawing my attention away from his father.

"What's up kid?"

"I was wondering if you'd teach me how to track? I wanna help look for Sophia and defend the camp. If I can track, I can hunt." he shrugged, his smile gone as he turned serious- though I could tell he was still happy, he was just trying to be mature.

"Well it's up to your parents."

Carl turned to Rick who had been watching us. Rick gave a slight nod. "If your mum says you can, I won't argue. But I think it'll be best if you wait until Daryl's healed."

"Okay dad." Carl turned back to me. "We'll talk when you're better." he told me before walking off. I grinned, watching him as he headed off to his mum, probably asking her right now.

Behind them, in the distance, I was distracted by movement. At first, I thought it was a walker. But it didn't take long to recognise the brown hair, always brushed and neat.

_What's she doing?_

**VPOV**

I walked along the outskirts off the tree-line. I looked in, wondering what could be out there. How many people were out there, alone, hungry and scared. I remembered what it was like out there when I was alone. I had to fight for everything. There was no one to blame, no one to help, no one to care for me. My survival was in my hands, no one else’s.

Slowly I moved further into the tree-line, aware that I probably wasn't visible from camp. Carefully I walked, making sure I didn't make a sound. If there were walkers around, I didn't want to draw their attention.

"What are you doing?" I jumped at the sound of Daryl's voice. He was headed towards me, still in the fields.

I sighed. "Walking. What are you doing?"

"Following you." he answered with a tone of annoyance. "How many times do you have to be in danger before you stop wandering off alone?"

I shrugged. "Maybe I'm looking for danger. Maybe I'm hoping you save me." I grinned.

He rolled his eyes, trying to stay serious. "Vic, I'm not joking. What if you hurt yourself? What if there was a walker out here?" his voice was getting louder. "I'd die if something happened to you."

"I'm fine Daryl. You don't need to worry about-" Daryl pushed me up against a tree, his finger on my lips.

"Shh." he whispered before signalling for me to listen. That's when I heard the shuffling and moans.

My blood ran cold as I realised we were out here with no guns; Daryl didn't even have his crossbow.

Daryl took a step back, as I reached into the back of my pants and pulled out his knife. I handed it to him and watched as he snuck around the tree and out of sight. I listened as he killed the walker, and let out a breath. But the sound of something falling, and then the struggling groans from Daryl, made me turn around the tree and freeze.

Daryl was on the ground with a walker on top of him, snapping at his face. The knife had been dropped but I couldn't see it.

It took all of two seconds for me to make my decision. I ran towards them and threw myself at the walkers, throwing it off him. But of course, this meant the walker was now on me. I just hoped Daryl knew where the knife was.

"Hurry." I groaned, losing my grip on the walker as it's jaw snapped closer and closer to my face. "Daryl!"

I saw Daryl stand above the walker before he lifted it slightly and plunged the knife into its eye and through its brain before dropping it on to the ground.

My heart pumped, adrenaline going through me as I sat on the ground looking up at him. Daryl looked down at me panting, his eyes dark like they had been in the tent.

He reached an arm out for me to grab, helping me up. As we stood there his hand moved to my waist, pulling me closer, my own hands resting on his biceps. I loved how he kept them uncovered most of the time. He looked me up and down, while mine stayed glued on his chest.

"Daryl." his name came out as a sort of pleading moan. I wanted him to make the move.

He backed us up, pushing me against a tree before slamming his lips against mine. His grip tightened as he lifted me off the ground, my legs wrapping around him. His groin pushing against me. I could feel his excitement.

He put me on the floor, stepping back. His hands moved to my shorts as he undid them and pushed them to the ground. All the while I helped him. Once he was standing, I undid the button on his pants and pushed the zipper down. When I went to help him out he pushed my hands away, lifting my legs around him once more.

There was no waiting this time. He wanted me, and I wanted him, and it had to be now.

 

...

 

"I think everyone knows about us." I told Daryl as we headed back to camp.

Looking over at him as he walked beside me, I saw him nod. "Your dad knows."

"He said something to you?"

"Yeah." he shrugged. "Doesn' want me hurtin' you."

I didn't know what to say. At one point I was surprised he hadn't told Daryl to stay away, but I was also slightly pissed that he thought I can't take care of myself.

"He's a good dad. Wish mine was like that."

I looked away, contemplating if I should ask the question that had been playing in my mind since yesterday when Hershel had been patching him up... but I knew that if I didn't ask, I'd never know.

"Was it your dad that gave you all those scars on your back?" my voice was tiny, scared that he might lash out or that I might lose him.

He stopped in his tracks, avoiding looking at me. "You saw?"

"Yes."

"When?"

I moved to stand in front of him, still cautious of how he could react. "When Hershel fixed you up yesterday." he nodded, but still didn't look at me. "Look I'm not going to ask you any questions and I'm not going to make you talk. I just want you to know that I'm here for you."

He looked at me then, and I could see his walls were still down. He wasn't going to shut me out, but I knew he was nowhere near ready to tell me his story. So, I stepped forward and kissed him, sweet and reassuringly. I needed him to know I wasn't going anywhere.

"You can trust me."

 

...

 

When we got back to camp I made my way to the RV. Daryl was going to help T-Dog with small chores, Glenn and Maggie were nowhere to be seen. And my parents were off doing something. So, I thought I'd see what Dale was doing.

As I neared the RV I noticed Andrea, Carol, Shane and Dale standing around. Looking at Shane I knew that look.

Once Carol and Andrea were gone I moved forward towards the two men.

"Shane, Shane?" Dale called. Shane stopped in his tracks and turned to the older man. "I was thinking, you've got that nice new ride of yours, plenty of fuel, more than enough for you to get far from here."

"What, you telling me to leave?"

"I know you've been planning to. Maybe now is a good time."

Shane laughed. "Is this about Andrea?"

"I'm looking out for the group."

"You think the group would be better off without me, Dale? Why don't you tell that to Rick or Lori? Their boy would be dead if I hadn't put my ass on the line."

"And Otis'?" I hadn't realised Dale thought the same about me, but by looking at him I could tell he thought there was more to the story when it comes to that night. "You've been vague about that night, about what happened."

Shane stopped in his tracks. "Otis died a hero."

Dale was quick to add. "So, you've said."

"A little boy lived because of what went down that night. I think you ought to show some gratitude."

"I wasn't there."

"No, man, you weren't."

"But I was the time you raised your gun on Rick. You had him in your sights and you held him there." my body felt like it was ice. I knew they didn't know I was there, staying hidden behind a tent, and I wondered how much of it was true... but then again, Shane had tried to rape me... "I know what kind of man you are." Dale looked at Shane disgustedly.

"You think I'd shoot Rick?" Shane's eyes were cold and menacing. He was a man I had never seen before everything turned to hell. And I could honestly say, I was scared of him. "That is my best friend. That's the man that I love. I love him like he's my brother. You think that's the kind of man I am?"

"That's right." Dale nodded, and I was surprised at how calm he looked.

"Well maybe we ought to just think that through. Say I'm the kind of man who'd gun down his own best friend. What do you think I'd do to some guy that I don't even like when he starts throwing accusations my way? What do you think?" Shane left it there, staring Dale down, and all I could think about was how I had once thought I loved that man.

With a scoff he turned away and walked off, leaving the old man by himself. I came out of hiding, moving towards Dale.

"You okay?"

He jumped before turning to look at me, his eye worried, but not because of what Shane had said to him. "Did you hear all of that?"

I nodded. "Is it true? Did he really have his gun raised? Did he really hold my dad in his sights?"

Dale sighed and took the last few steps towards me. His hand rested on my shoulder and I knew then that it was true. "That man is a changed man. He will do anything he thinks is right. Even if it's really wrong."

"But why would he shoot my dad?" I choked on a sob.

He shrugged. "Because back at Atlanta, when they were arguing about where we would go, Shane wanted to go to Fort Benning; and he thought that if Rick was gone, you'd agree with him."

Tears came running down my cheek slowly, one by one. "Why would he think that?"

"Because he honestly thinks there's still a chance with you."

**Bamby**


	13. Forgive and Survive

**VPOV**

Sitting down with everyone having breakfast was different today. For one, I couldn't stop staring at my mum; I hadn't asked her if she was really pregnant or if Glenn's just assuming. Then there was Dale and Shane who were keeping me on edge since yesterday; I was sure they were going to be a problem from now on. And then there was Daryl... now that we knew everyone knew about us, we weren't really hiding it anymore.

"Here, eat." he nudged me from his spot on the chair behind me. He had wanted me to sit on the chair, but I insisted he did. I was more healed then he was.

I looked at his plate of food, noting he hadn't eaten much. "I don't need it. You do."

He scoffed. "You've hardly eat'n in days. Now eat."

I picked up a piece of jerky and turned. "That's all I'm taking. It's better than nothing."

In the corner of my eye the plate disappeared as he started eating, mumbling something under his breath. I was about to ask him what he said when Glenn stood up.

"Um, guys." I looked over at him, noting how most of the others kept doing wat they were doing. "So, the barns full of walkers."

Everything fell silent as we all looked at Glenn. That got everyone's attention...

**DPOV**

I kept Vic behind me as we stood around the barn. It may have been secure so far, but there was no way I was taking chances. Her safety was the only thing on my mind.

Shane looked through the crack in the door of the barn. The moans and groans of the walkers filling the place. There had to be at least a dozen in there.

Shane turned back to us, obviously pissed. "You cannot tell me you're all right with this." he asked Rick.

"No, I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land."

Shane walked past Rick, getting more worked up by the minute. "God, this is our lives, man!"

"Lower your voice." Lori snapped at the deputy.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea turned to Rick for answers.

T-Dog agreed. "It ain't right. Not remotely."

"We've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right, or we've just got to go." Shane's paced. "Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."

"We can't go." Rick was final, and I agreed. There was no way I was leaving without Sophia. I needed to find that girl, for Carol  _and_  Vic.

"Why, Rick? Why?"

"Because my daughter's still out there." Carol said what I had been thinking.

Shane scoffed. "Okay. Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."

Rick turned to Shane, trying to get his point through. "Shane, we're not leaving Sophia behind."

"I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her doll two days ago." I walked forward. There was no way I would let Shane just leave. I knew what was right and that was to stay and find Sophia.

**VPOV**

I watched as everyone argued. Shane wanting to leave and the others wanting to stay. But all that was going through my mind was, how could I leave Sophia again. How could I pack up and just leave her when she's out there all by herself? I already feel guilty enough, that would just eat away at me till I was a mess.

"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." Shane was speaking down at him, and I knew that was a big mistake.

"You don't know the hell you're talking about." Daryl stepped closer to him, getting worked up.

Dad tried to intervene, but Shane went on. "I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours."

"Shane, Shane. Shane, stop." dad stood between them.

"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife, and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction."

That was all it took before Daryl made his move. Dad, Shane and Daryl started yelling, going on as they fought. Carol stood by me, obviously upset by what Shane had said. I had to do something to break it up before it got too ugly.

Everyone else had either started to join the argument or try to break it up, but nothing was working. I moved to Shane, trying to pull him away. He tried to shrug me off, but I managed to get between him and Daryl; knowing Daryl wouldn't throw a punch with me in the middle.

"Back off Shane. Keep your theories to yourself and back off." I told him, keeping my calm, my eyes looking into his. I wasn't going to back down from this.

He looked over my shoulder, probably at Daryl, before taking a few steps back. Daryl moved closer to me, and I turned to him while my dad got control once more.

"Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out."

Shane turned fast, heading for my dad. "What are you gonna figure out?" I stepped between them protectively, hoping Shane wouldn't hurt me to get to him.

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it." dad explained. "This is his land."

Dale moved to my dad. "Hershel sees hose things in there as people, sick people, his wife, his step son."

"You knew?" dad looked as betrayed as I felt.

Dale nodded. "Yesterday, I talk to Hershel."

"And you waited the night?" Shane looked about ready to explode.

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did." he looked at Shane pointedly. Turning back to my dad he explained. "I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one."

Shane turned back to the two talking men and I flinched at the look in his eyes. "The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or no." he yelled.

Suddenly the walkers in the barn started pushing against the door, the noise getting their attention. My blood ran cold with fear as I stood there waiting for the doors to break down. There was no way I would ever feel safe again, knowing we were sleeping next to those monsters...

 

...

 

I sat in Daryl's tent while he knelt in front of me, watching me as I tried not to cry. I couldn't help it. I felt like it was my fault we were in this mess. If I had just made sure Sophia stayed safe, we wouldn't have ended up being on a farm with a barn full of walkers. Carl and I wouldn't have gotten shot. And Daryl hadn't of gotten hurt. We'd be fine.

"Stop."

I looked up at Daryl. He'd finally broken the silence we had been sitting in since he practically dragged me away from the barn. I had been frozen there, wondering what we would be doing if it hadn't been for me. And honestly, I had thought for the smallest moment that maybe if the walkers got out and ate me, things would be better for everyone...

Daryl sighed and stood up. "I can't sit here and watch you blame yourself."

"What are you gonna do then?" I asked, still fighting the tears that were threatening to fall.

He shrugged. "I'm gonna help. But I want you to stay in camp. I don' want you wonderin' off by yourself. I know that look, I've had it plenty o' times. And I know that you do whatever your thinkin' about doin', it'll make things worse, not better. We need you, so don't do anythin' stupid while I'm gone."

I looked away, feeling guilty that it was easy for him to read me like that. I'm not saying I was contemplating suicide, but the fact that he at least read that I wondered if it would be easier if I was gone, was enough to shut down any thoughts...

"I need you to promise me. I need you to stay with Glenn, or Carl, or Maggie... or someone. Don' be by yourself, and don' go near the barn." he crouched down in front of me again. "You promise?" I nodded, a tear slipping. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against my lips, easing some of the guilt and pain. "I'll be back soon." with that he left.

 

...

 

I sat with Carl under a tree while he read his comic and I brushed my hair. Since Daryl left I couldn't put the brush down. I'd brush my hair then sit for a while before I got worked up enough to be close to tears again and then start brushing again. Being with Carl helped. He knew me better than anyone in the world, and he knew when to keep quiet and when to distract me.

"Do you remember when we fought over the last cookie Gran made?" he asked, grinning over at me.

I laughed, my brush stopping half way through a stroke. "She made me my favourite lemon cookies, and you ate the last one. I didn't talk to you for a week."

He nodded. "And the only reason why you started talking to me was because you found out it was mum who gave me the cookie." I smiled at him, putting my arm over his shoulder in a half hug. "Do you think Gran's still out there?"

I sighed. "Honestly, no." Carl knew I tried to keep everything true when it came to talking to him. That way we never fought over stupid lies and stuff like that. "But I hope she did. There a part of me that wonders."

He nodded. "I hope so too." Shane walked past then, and Carl got up. "Shane, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Shane stopped what he was doing and turned to us, his eyes stopping on me a little longer then I'd like. Carl got up and took a few steps towards him. "You okay?" Shane asked. As much as I feared the man, it warmed my heart to know he still cared for Carl.

"Yeah." Carl answered before taking a breath and going on. "I know you think Sophia's dead and that we should stop looking for her. But that's bullshit." I stood up and moved to my younger brother. I never liked hearing him speak like that.

But Shane spoke before I had the chance to tell him off. "Hey, man, watch your mouth."

Carl just went on like nothing happened. "We're gonna stay here until we find her."

Shane smiled, looking over at me. I could tell he was impressed with Carl and I got to admit, so was I. "You think that's what we should do?"

"It's what I know we should do." Carl stated.

Shane shrugged. "Then we stay. That means we got to do whatever we got to do to make that happen, hmm?" I knew what he meant, and I didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"Like help out with chores?" Carl asked.

"Mmm." Shane nodded, not saying what he really meant. He leaned forward and placed a hand on Carl's shoulder. "Like help out with the chores."

I didn't like that one bit. "Speaking of, why don't you go see if mum needs a hand." I nudged my brother.

Shane looked up at me. "Why don't you listen to your sister, huh? I'm sure she'll be there in a sec." Carl nodded and Shane stood. "Go on." once Carl was left and out of earshot he turned back to me. "You got a problem?"

"Don't do it."

He gave a short nod, grinning. "And what is it you think I'm gonna do?"

I took the step separating him, getting in his face. "You know what I'm talking about. I swear Shane, if you do  _anything_  to put me or my loved ones in danger I will kill you. Slowly. I will drug you- and don't think I can't, because we both know I know how to. And I will drag you far away from camp before leaving little cuts all over you so you bleed. But not enough to die. No, I'll do it so all the walkers will smell you, and before you know it, they'll be nothing left of you."

His grin stayed in its place as he kept looking at me, amused and not one bit scared. "I miss that fire of yours. I was beginning to wonder why I was so interested in you." his hand grabbed my elbow as he pulled me closer. I struggled against him but he wouldn't budge. "You know everything I do, I do for you." his hand released me and I took several steps back. "Just remember that."

I watched as he walked off, waiting for my heart to stop pounding before I could finally relax.

 

...

 

I sat on top of the RV with Glenn. Andrea was guarding the barn and Dale had walked off, so he was lift on guard duty. I had nothing to do so I thought I'd join him. We had been sitting in silence, both of us having too much on our minds to talk.

Something must have caught his attention because he handed me the gun before standing up. "Maggie."

I looked over and saw the farmer girl walking up the road with a basket full of vegetables. I shook my head and looked down knowing perfectly well what was going on between the two of them. They had been arguing for a couple of days now and I realised this morning that it was because Glenn had told us about the walkers.

Maggie hadn't spoken to any of us since we found out, and I'm not sure if that's because we won't approach her or she won't approach us. But either way it hurt me, adding to everything else. She had been a good friend so far, someone that I found myself getting to know. We acted like my friends and I did before everything turned upside down, and I seriously thought that maybe we could have a normal friendship.

But now things were different. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to talk to her, or if she could talk to me. I wanted her to get all her frustrations out on Glenn first, so I didn't lose a friend. I know that's selfish, but he was the one that broke the promise, and I didn't want her angry at me for something I didn't do.

Glenn climbed off the RV before following her, all the while she kept ignoring him. He caught up to her and I could see both of them talking, though she did not seem happy. She was yelling at him, rushing to get away. But he kept up, not giving up.

He grabbed her arm and started talking though I couldn't see his face to know what he was saying. But by watching Maggie I noticed she was listening. She wasn't just waiting for him to finish, or ignoring him. She was standing there listening to every word he was saying. And when he was finished she stayed quiet, not yelling back.

He turned away and walked off, not waiting for her to say anything else.

I watched in wonder, wanting to know if she would make the move he left open for her...

"Hey walker bait." she called and that's all it took. I knew then, that she had forgiven him.  _I guess there's hope for us humans yet. If we can forgive and love, then we sure as hell can survive._

**Bamby**


	14. Pull the Trigger

**VPOV**

I still sat on top of the RV, waiting for Andrea or Glenn or someone to take over my shift. As much as I was a good aim and everything, I needed something to drink; and no one had been around to grab me one.

"You alright?"

I looked down, already smiling before I saw who spoke, the southern drawl a dead giveaway to who it was. "I'm thirsty. You got anything?"

Daryl shook his head, Carol was a few feet away from him. "Why don't you come down? Get a drink in the house."

I nodded and started to climb down the ladder. Daryl, Carol and I headed for the house, noticing most of the others crowded around the front steps. As we neared we heard what they were talking about.

"He went off with Hershel. We were supposed to leave a couple of hours ago." Andrea and T-Dog stood facing Glenn, all of them looking confused.

"Yeah you were." Daryl walked a little faster and I realized they had been talking about my dad. They were supposed to be looking for Sophia right now. "What the hell?"

Carol stayed by me, also confused. "Rick told us he was going out."

"Damn it. Isn't anybody taking this seriously?" Daryl was getting worked up. I knew he was serious about finding Sophia, and I also knew that it was him doing most of the looking. "We got us a damn trail." he gestured out behind me. "Ah. Here we go."

I watched him as he walked up to me, looking at someone heading our way. When I turned I did not expect it to be Shane... with the bag of guns.

"What's all this?" Daryl gestured at the bag.

Shane handed him a gun. "You with me?" Daryl grabbed the gun, and I watched in horror as Shane started handing out all the guns. "Time to grow up." he turned to Andrea. "You already got yours?"

I followed Shane, Daryl close behind. "Where's Dale, Shane?"

"He's on his way." was all he said as he handed T-Dog a gun.

"Thought we couldn't carry."

"We can and we have to." Shane said as he moved on. "Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't." he turned to Glenn. "How about you, man? You gonna protect yours?" Glenn turned to Maggie before grabbing the gun. "Can you shoot?" Shane asked her.

"Can you stop?" he ignored her, turning away. "You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."

"Stop Shane." I stepped in front of him. "We don't have to do this."

"We have to stay, Shane." Carl stood on the porch and suddenly everything was a little more serous for me. He was just back on his feet after getting shot. There was no way I was going to let Shane put him in anymore danger.

"What is this?" mum asked as she joined us.

Shane just ignored her. "We ain't going anywhere okay?" he looked at me and before turning to everyone else. "Now look, Hershel, he's just gonna understand. Okay? Well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right? Now I want you to take this." he handed Carl a gun. "You take it Carl, you keep your mum and sister safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."

Both mum and I were there before Carl had the chance to grab the gun. I pushed Carl behind me, and took the gun. "Don't you even dare." there was no need to snap or get angry. I kept my voice even and cold, so he understood.

"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." mum was angry, though she didn't yell. She didn't have to. She knew how to get him to listen.

"Oh shit." T-Dog was looking over into the fields to our right.

We all moved to see what was going on when I froze. It was my dad, Hershel and Jimmy... with two walkers.

**DPOV**

I had only grabbed the gun so I could protect Vic. I didn't agree with Shane for one second. I was happy to find Sophia and leave. There was no need to open the barn. But I needed the gun, just in case he did decided to do something stupid.

"Oh, shit." we all turned to see what T-Dog was looking at, and I swear it was the last thing I thought I'd ever see. Rick with Hershel and the farmer boy walking towards the barn with two walkers.

Shane started running towards them. I followed him, though I don't know if it was to make sure he didn't do anything or to stop Rick and Hershel. By then I knew everyone else was following, and I had no idea where Vic was.

"Shane!" Lori yelled.

"Don't you dare." that voice. She was close, that's all I needed to know.

We ran through the gates, getting closer to them. "What the hell are you doing?" Shane ran into their path so they couldn't get to the barn.

"Shane, just back off." Rick warned.

"Why do you people have guns?" Hershel asked Rick, the old man holding the pole around the walker's neck like he was walking a dog.

"Are you kidding me? You see?" Shane circled them, the rest of us stopping. "You see what they're holding on to?"

"I see  _who_ I'm holding on to." Hershel corrected.

Shane shook his head. "No, man, you don't."

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." I could tell Rick was unsure about this. He didn't want to be storing walkers. But he also didn't want us to have to leave.

"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us."

"Shane, shut up!" Rick yelled.

Shane ignored the cop though, and kept ranting on. "Hey, Hershel, man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could the walk away from this?" he pulled out his gun and shot the walker three times.

"No!" Rick screamed. "Stop it!"

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that? Why is it still coming?" he shot two more times. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?" three more shots.

"Shane enough." Rick yelled.

Shane headed for the walker. "Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." bang. He shot the walker in the head...

**VPOV**

I watched as the walker fell to the ground. It was like the world went into slow motion, the only one who knew what they were doing was Shane.

Hershel fell to his knees, looking at the walker that Shane just put down. The others standing around, unsure of what to do. I watched, horrified and shocked, unable to do anything from fear.

"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Shane's words were like a stab to the chest. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough! Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now." suddenly he turned and ran for the barn.

"Take the snag pole." dad yelled at Hershel. "Hershel. Hershel, take the snare pole. Hershel, listen to me, man, please. Take it now. Hershel! Take it!" but no matter how much dad yelled, the old man just stayed where he was.

Shane had a pick axe, smashing it against the door.

My heart was racing, but I couldn't move. I didn't know where to go. Do I stop Shane? Do I help dad? Do I take care of Carol? Do I help Hershel?

"No, Shane. Do not to this, brother. Please!" dad begged.

But Shane just kept hitting the door. He used the pick axe to tear one lock off.

"Don't do it." Glenn yelled. Hearing someone's else's voice was enough to get me working again.

"Shane. Please don't do this! Please, I'm begging you!" but he wouldn't even listen to me.

Mum was yelling for dad to do something. Dad was yelling for Shane to stop. Everyone was panicking.

But it was too late. Shane pulled the last of the barriers away and stepped away from the barn doors. "Come on. Come on, we're out here."

Daryl stood in front of me, his gun ready to shoot. "Stay behind me, no matter what." he said, his eyes glued on the doors.

The doors opened and one by one walkers came out.

Andrea, T-Dog and Shane lined up, shooting the monsters. Daryl moved forward joining them, but I stayed where I was, Carol now standing with me. One by one they killed the walkers, yet more and more came out. I watched as Glenn turned to Maggie, who nodded her head, before he joined the line-up.

Shane turned, looking at dad with that same look he had when he was talking to Dale. He raised his gun and shot, the bullet hitting the walker in the head.

I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't just stand and watch. "Forgive me." I mumbled to no one before standing next to Daryl and shooting the walkers. I had never dropped the gun Shane had tried to give Carl...

My ears rung at the sound of shots been fired over and over. All I could smell was gun fire and walkers. Each walker looked different, yet each were disgusting and gruesome. The cold gun in my hands an enemy I wish I didn't have to use.

I was killing Maggie's friends, and neighbours, people she knew, people she grew up with. That old man could have been her teacher. That young woman could have worked at the store. It was like I was re-killing them...

Suddenly they stopped coming out of the barn. It was over. The last walker fell to the ground and there was nothing more.

"Are you crazy?" Daryl asked me, though we both kept our eye on the barn.

I shrugged, not really wanting to explain myself right now. "If that's what you want to think."

I looked at all the bodies on the floor. That was it. It was only a matter of time before Hershel kicked us off his farm now. We were homeless. On the run. Back where we started...

Just then there was another moan.

All guns were raised once more as we waited for the walker...

I expected an adult, so it didn't register at first. My eyes fell down to the child and that's when I felt myself die a little. Those sneakers. Those three-quarter pants. That rainbow top. That mousey blonde bob. I knew that walker.

My throat tightened as I tried not to cry, my head dizzy as I tried to focus my mind. But I couldn't.

"Sophia?" I went to move forward but had strong arms holding me back before I could move. I fell against Daryl as he held me to his chest, but it was Carol that pushed me over the edge, her voice releasing my tears.

"Sophia? Sophia!" she screamed, and I could hear her run towards us. I nodded, feeling Daryl tense against me, before he let go and grabbed Carol. They fell to the ground as he held her, her sobs heart breaking. "Sophia. Sophia."

Nobody moved; nobody could. We all just stood there, watching as she moved closer, snarling and moaning. It was the worst thing I had ever seen, and I had to end it.

I stepped forward, my gun raised as I neared the little girl. Looking into her eyes my heart broke over and over. I remembered braiding her hair. I remembered playing in the water. I remember drawing with her.

_"You're the best pretend sister ever, Vickie." Sophia smiled as we sat by the fire. "I love you." she leaned over and hugged me._

_"I love you too."_

I pulled the trigger.

**Bamby**


	15. Monster?

**VPOV**

Sophia fell to the ground, everything quiet. I wasn't sure if everyone was just in shock, or if it was me. But there was no noise, only silence. I lowered my gun, unable to look away from the little girl's body that lie by my feet.

"Vickie." I could hear a distant voice call for me. "Vickie!"

It was like a switch was flicked on, and suddenly everything was back to normal. I could hear sobs behind me, not just from Carol. Turning towards everyone I felt weak. Daryl stood and ran towards me but he was too slow. I fell to the ground, my body shaking, my eyes wide, my stomach sick.

Daryl fell by me, reaching to grab me, but I flinched and scurried away before he could touch me. I didn't want comfort, I didn't deserve it. Instead I stood and ran. I ran as far as I could, unable to face anybody.

**DPOV**

"Vickie!" Lori screamed after her daughter.

Rick yelled. "Victoria!"

I got off the ground and watched her. I couldn't believe she flinched away from me. I knew it wasn't from fear, but it still hurt. I had hoped she'd at least come to me. But just by looking at her I could tell she was in shock.

"Don't look. Don't look." Andrea reached for Carol. Carol moved away from Andrea before running back to camp.

"Daryl." I turned to Rick who moved towards me. "She needs help. She can't be out there all by herself."

I nodded, not needing him to say anything else before I headed in the direction Vic had gone in.

**VPOV**

I fell to the ground, pulling my knees against my chest. I couldn't breathe, my panic attack taking over. The world spun, and so did my stomach. Everything felt wrong.

"Victoria?"

I looked up and could barely see Daryl through blurry eyes. He knelt and reached for me, but I flinched back. "Don't." his voice was sad and worried. "Don't shut me out."

I opened my mouth to speak, but only creaking sobs came out. Taking a breath, I tried again. "I'm a monster."

"Why'd you say that?"

I felt a tear slip, my body shaking. "I killed her."

"You had to-"

I shook my head. "No, I killed her before this. I was the one who left her out there. She trusted me, Daryl. I was supposed to care for her, but I failed.  _I_ killed her."

His fingers wiped away my tear. "It wasn't your fault. None of us knew about that herd, and no one could have done any better. You did your best." he moved closer, his hand moving to my arm.

I couldn't help it anymore. I let it all go, my tears pouring. I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. My body shook violently from the sobs as I held him to me tightly.

 

...

 

We walked back to camp, his arm around my shoulder as he held me to him. We didn't speak. We didn't have to. Each step we took we took side by side. There was no fumbling, no awkwardness, no problems.

But there was one question playing on my mind. "How's Carol?"

Daryl sighed. "Pretty bad last time I saw." there was a pause before he added. "Do you want me to go check on her?"

I looked up at him. "Only if you want to."

He nodded and pulled me into a hug. "I'll see you later." he kissed my forehead before heading off.

I watched for a while before continuing on, before I knew it I was standing by the blue pick-up, and once again I caught Shane and Dale talking.

"What, you fix up an RV? You babysit some guns? Man, you pointed one at my chest, right? But you just... You couldn't pull that trigger, could you?" Shane asked Dale.

I grabbed the gun I still hadn't dropped yet and pointed it at him. "Bet I could."

Both of them turned to me, Shane with that stupid smirk on his face. "Vickie, what are you doing?"

I just shrugged. "What does it look like?"

He took a step closer, reaching out. "Give me the gun, Vickie."

I shook my head, circling him till I stood next to Dale. "Not gonna happen Shane."

He shook his head, still looking amused. "You're not going to shoot me."

"Oh really?" I tilted my head. "So why haven't you tried taking the gun yet?"

His amusement vanished as he glared. "Why are you being like this? Hmm? Are you sleeping with Daryl to get back at me? Trying to make me jealous? Because it's working!"

I jumped at the mention of me sleeping with Daryl. I knew he was just guessing, but it still shocked me that he said that. "I'm not trying to make you jealous. Everything I do, I do because I want to. He's a good man, unlike you."

"If I'm such a bad guy, why would I have saved Carl, huh? I smashed that barn open. I saved Carl. That's me. That ain't Rick, that ain't Daryl. That's me." he turned around, shaking his head. "Tell you what Vickie, when he hurts you, when he leaves; I'll be waiting. 'Cause I'm not giving up on us." he called as he got in the pick-up and slammed the door before driving off.

"You okay?" I looked over at Dale who was watching me.

I nodded. "Peachy." I sighed, lowering my gun and heading off.

He followed close behind. "You did the right thing."

"What, threatening him?"

"No. Shooting Sophia." I stopped dead in my tracks. "No one else would have done it except Rick, and we both know he's already done a lot. You helped him, and saved the group. Don't feel bad about it."

I sighed, looking over at him. "In a world like this, people have to come together. We're at risk of losing ourselves, not just our lives. Sophia was a reminder that there's still hope. She made me laugh. She made me smile. We had fun, and at times it was like we could forget everything's changed.

"I may have shot down a walker. I may have helped the group, and saved us. But I also shot my friend... my sister. So, no, I didn't do the right thing. I did the only thing that could be done. But if I was a real 'hero' I wouldn't have left her out there in the first place." I shrugged. "So please, don't thank me, and don't tell me I did the right thing."

I walked off then, not wanting to talk about it anymore.

 

...

 

We all gather around the graves as we said our last goodbyes. Sophia, Annette- Hershel's wife- and Shawn- Hershel's stepson- were all buried here.

I stood out in the distance, watching as everyone else crowded together. I leaned against a tree, silently crying. It was a wonder I hadn't run out of tears.

When everyone went their separate ways, Daryl headed for me. He kept his eyes on the ground, chewing his thumb nail.

He stopped in front of me, reaching for my hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he wiped away my tears, finally looking up at me. I gave him a half-smile, though I knew my true emotions were written in my eyes. He nodded and pulled me into his arms. "Come on. Help me move my stuff?"

I nodded, not asking any questions. I wasn't sure why, or where he was moving his stuff to, but I did know I wanted to stick with him. I couldn't face any of the others, especially Maggie. So, I just followed him without question.

**Bamby**


	16. The Crash

**VPOV**

Turns out when Daryl said he wanted me to help him move his stuff, he meant he wanted me to get on the back of his bike while he drove to the edge of the farm and set up his camp. Every time I tried to help him, he shook his head, and told me to sit down and relax. And you know what? I actually liked it. It was nice, being taken care of.

But I was thirsty, and we didn't have much water here, so I knew one of us would have to go get more. "Daryl?" I stood up off the ground.

"Hmm?" he looked away from the tent he was setting up.

I moved towards him, hands in pockets. "I'm gonna go get us more water. I'll be back okay?"

He stood up and looked over at the house. "I can go."

I shook my head. "It's the least I can do." I gave him a reassuring half-smile and leaned forward, kissing his cheek. "I'll be back before you know it."

He gave me a short nod. With that I headed back to the house.

**DPOV**

"Moving to the suburbs?" Lori asked as she walked towards me.

I didn't bother looking up, just kept sharpening my knife. "Vic's not here."

"I'm not here for her, I'm here for you."

"What do you want?"

She stopped next to me. "Beth's in shock, we need Hershel."

"So, what?"

She knelt. "So, I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back." I paused what I was doing, but didn't answer. "Daryl?"

I looked up at her. "If Rick went off, go get him yourself. I ain't leaving Vic here by herself. And I'm done looking for people."

"What's the matter with you? We need you. Why would you be so selfish?"

That was it. I stood up, anger building. "Selfish? Listen to me. For the last few days I have been searchin' for that little girl, hopin' that I could help Carol and Vic- you know, your daughter. 'Cause she's been a wreck. She blames herself. So, I did everythin' I could to try help 'er.

"I was out there looking for that little girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process. And I nearly lost Vic too. So, don't you tell me about gettin' my hands dirty! You want Rick and Hershel? Have a nice ride."

**VPOV**

I was heading back to Daryl when I saw my mum coming this why from that direction. She looked flustered and upset, and as much as I didn't want to talk to anyone, I couldn't just leave my mum like that. So, I shoved the bottle in my bag and walked over to her.

"Mum, what's wrong?"

She shrugged. "Just asked your boyfriend for help. Apparently, he's done looking for people."

I rolled my eyes. "He's been out there looking for Sophia for the last few days, and he just found out that he nearly died out there for no reason. So, I don't really blame him." I snapped, defending Daryl.

Mum stopped in her tracks and looked at me, but I didn't give her a chance to go on. "He may be loud and rude, but I love him. He has saved me a million times, and he has helped me through a lot. I'm sorry mum, but I have to agree with him. He deserves a break." I turned on my heels and started towards Daryl's camp.

"Beth's in shock and Hershel's missing." she called.

I stopped and spun to look at her. "How bad is she?"

"She needs Hershel."

"Where's dad?"

"He took Glenn and they went to town to go find him. But we need them back now. Beth's in bad shape."

I nodded, understanding. "You wanted Daryl to go get them?" she didn't need to say anything. I knew that because he wasn't going, she would. "I'll go with you."

"Vickie, I don't think that's a good-"

I shook my head and placed the bag on the ground. "Mum I'm not letting you go off on your own. And I'm sure as hell not letting you take anyone else like Shane." I told her. "Grab what you need. I'll be waiting."

 

...

 

Mum was driving along as I sat next to her in the passenger side. So far, we had been quiet, but I knew it was bugging her, so I thought it was about time I spoke up.

"I know you don't like Daryl. But I'm with him, so it would be nice if you tried to get along with him." I sighed.

She laughed and shook her head. "Vickie, I like Daryl."

"You do?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yes. Why wouldn't I? He's kept you safe. Tried more than anyone to find Sophia. He goes hunting for us. And he makes you happy."

I smiled back at her, resting my head back. "I thought you didn't want me to be with him."

She shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, I always thought you and Shane would end up together. But I know you don't like him like that."

"I used to." I admitted.

She nodded. "I know. Even before all of this happened. I knew you two were together." she smiled at me knowingly.

"Then why didn't you say anything before?"

She shrugged. "I trust Shane... at least I did. Before all of this he was a different man. A better man."

I nodded, and looked away. There was so much I wanted to tell her. So much she needed to know. Before the world turned to shit um and I were so close, like best of friends. But I wondered if she'd believe me...

"What is it honey?"

I sighed and turned to look over at her again. "If I tell you something, promise you won't over react?"

"What's wrong?"

"Back at the CDC, the first night when you all left the rec room... I stayed. And Shane. Shane came in to talk to me. He says he still loves me, and he thinks I did to. So, he tried to prove it." I looked away, grimacing at the memory. "He tried to... force... himself..." I could bring myself to say the words.

"Vickie look at me." I turned to look at her. She was outraged and disgusted. "Did he? Did he rape you?" there was no hesitation in her voice.

I shook my head. "Daryl heard me scream and stopped him."

"That's why he was in your room that morning?"

I nodded. "I didn't want to be alone. I was scared."

She nodded, though she still looked pissed. "Has Shane tried it again?" I shook my head. She nodded again and turned back to the road. "Does anyone else know?"

"Maggie. But she kinda guessed that something was wrong. And Dale knows we have a past, but I swear I didn't say anything to him."

She sighed. "Can you pass me the map?" she gestured in the back seat.

I unhooked my seat belt and turned around to look for it. "Where is it?"

"It should be on the seat?" I heard her voice clearer, guessing she had turned to see what I was doing.

I turned my head to tell her it wasn't there, when I saw the walker on the road. "Mum look out!" I screamed.

She swerved to miss the walker, but that was her biggest mistake. The car flipped and sent us flying. My back crashed into the roof, while mum went flying forward but was safe because of the seat belt. We tossed and turned. By the time the car stopped, I wasn't sure what part of me was okay and what wasn't.

 

...

 

I woke up at the feeling of something trickling down my face. Lifting my arm, I winced at the pain. My arm wasn't broken, but it still hurt.

Wiping at my face and looking at the wet substance, it was blood.

"Vickie?" mum groaned.

I turned around from my spot in the back to see her still in the driver's seat. "Mum? Oh, God."

Suddenly there was moaning. A walker threw itself at the window before trying to squeeze its face through a crack, sliding and pushing to make the gap bigger. I gagged as it's skin pulled back.

Mum was mumbling, and I knew she was on the edge of passing out. "My seatbelts stuck."

I nodded, reaching for my knife in my shorts. But it wasn't there. "Shit." I scrambled to find my knife. Mum screamed as the walker reached out, grabbing her and pulling her towards it. My fingers landed on something cool and hard.  _The knife._  I grabbed it and pushed forward, yanking my mum away from the creature before shoving the knife in its eye and through to its brain.

The thing went limb, letting go of her hair. I pulled the knife out and used it to cut her seatbelt. "Come on mum." I grunted, pulling her up. "Come on."

She barely managed to help me get her out of the car before collapsing.

"Mum!" I fell next to her, grabbing her hand. "Come on. Mum we need to move. Walkers would have heard the crash. We need to go."

Mum nodded, trying to get up. She was cut up and bruised pretty bad, but her head had hit the wheel which was the worst. She looked up at me and her eyes went wide. "Vickie, behind-"

I spun around and shoved my knife into the walker’s head before she could finish her sentence. Turning back to her, I helped her stand so we could walk. "Is the baby okay?" I couldn't help but asking.

She looked at me with shock horror. "How'd you-"

"I heard Glenn and Dale talking." I shrugged. "I wasn't sure, but..."

She sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry I kept it from you."

I shook my head as we slowly walked along the road. My body ached, everything hurt. I was bruised and cut and I was pretty sure I had a concussion. But I also knew we had to keep moving. "Don't be sorry."

**DPOV**

I paced my camp spot, starting to get worried. Vic had gone off to get some water, but that had been hours ago. I started to wonder if she had met up with Lori and was making sure her mum didn't go off. But then there was the chance she had gone off with her mum.

I grabbed my cross-bow and started for the house, wanting to know for sure. As I got closer I saw Carol heading my way so I stopped, waiting for her.

"Have you seen Lori?"

I shrugged. "A while ago. Wanted me to go into town. Why?"

"We can't find her. And the others aren't back yet either."

"Is Victoria at the house?"

She shook her head. "We all thought she was here with you."

"Shit." I sighed, looking around. "They're gone."

"What do you mean, they're gone?"

"I told Lori I wouldn't go into town, that I was done looking for people." I ran my hand through my hair, frustrated. "She must have gone, Vic too."

**VPOV**

Mum and I sat at the edge of the road. She had passed out a few minutes ago. I had no idea where we were, but I knew things were bad.

The sound of a car made me stand up. The car stopped, and for a moment I thought it might be Daryl.

But it was Shane that got out of the car. "You two alright?" he asked, walking towards us.

"Mum passed out. But I'm fine."

"You're not fine. I saw the wreck." using his torch he looked into my eyes. "Let me look at you." I sighed and put my head back so he could see better. "What happened?"

"I don't know. It's a bit of a blur."

"Well next time stay put, you won't need to remember." he dropped the torch from my face and looked me up and down. He sighed. "Come on, I gotta get you back."

"No, we gotta find my dad. Mum would hate it if we went back without him."

"He's back." he nodded. "They're all back, safe and sound."

I sighed with relief. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, thank God." I moved to walk to the car, but suddenly my legs were like jelly.

Shane reached forward and caught me, standing me up straight. "Come on, I'll help you."

I nodded and let him walk me to the car. "Thank you." I mumbled once he strapped me in.

He smiled and nodded before closing the door and grabbed my mum, putting her in the back seat. Once we were all strapped in, he headed off, back to the farm.

**Bamby**


	17. Enough Lies

**VPOV**

On the way back to camp, mum had woken up. She seemed a lot better now. In fact, she seemed better than me. Once we got to the farm, I was out of the car in an instant though, not letting pain stop me from.

"Oh, my God." Maggie came up to me. "What happened?" she reached forward and started checking me.

I was about to answer when another voice stopped me.

"Vic?" I turned around and saw Daryl running up to me. As soon as he could, he pulled me too him, looking me all over. "What the hell?"

"We were in an accident. I'm fine." I sighed, rubbing my head.

Shane came to stand by us. "They were attacked. Two walkers."

"I'm fine. I really am." I reassured Daryl, who was glaring at Shane. "Where's my dad?"

Shane started walking off as it fell quiet. Everyone looked from one person to the next, no one answering.

"They're not back?" I looked up at Daryl.

The car door slammed. "Where are they?" mum asked from behind us.

Shane nodded, looking from mum to me. "Look, I had to get you back here."

Mum stormed over to him and slapped him across the face. "You asshole."

I rushed over and pulled her back, standing between them. "Mum don't."

"Lori." Shane went to move towards us when I snapped at him.

"That is my father out there." I pushed him. "That's my dad!"

"I will find him." he yelled back, trying to get heard. "Hey!" he pushed me away and suddenly Daryl was between us, but Shane ignored him. "Now look, first things first. I gotta... I gotta look after Lori. I gotta make sure the baby's all right, okay?"

I gasped. I had no idea he knew...

"You're having a baby?" Carl came out from behind everyone else. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Mum stuttered, finding it hard to speak. Shane sighed and shook his head, he obviously didn't know Carl hadn't been told. Everyone else just seemed shocked. While I looked at my brother with wide eyes, not knowing what to say.

"Come on. Let's make sure you're all right." Dale said, breaking the silence.

Daryl nodded. "Come on." he said as he grabbed my arm and we headed for the house.

 

...

 

Daryl, Dale, Carl, mum, Andrea and I sat in the living room. Turns out I had a concussion- according to Patricia- and wasn't allowed to sleep for the night. She gave mum and me an ice pack each, cleaned up our cuts, and gave us the all clear.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you we left." mum told Carl. They sat on the couch in the middle of the room.

Daryl and I stood by the wall. He leaned against it, while I leaned against him. His arms wrapped around me, and I closed my eyes feeling safe.

"Don't sleep." he nudged me.

I groaned. "It's easier said than done." he scoffed. "Daryl, I'm sorry I left without telling you."

He sighed and held me tighter. "How many times do you have to almost die before you learn you're safest with me?"

I smiled. "I already know that. But maybe I like the danger."

He didn't laugh. He didn't even smile. He just shook his head. "This isn't the time to go off on your own adventures. If we lost the two of you out there we might have never found you. You could have died."

I looked down, guilt over taking. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't let my mum go by herself."

He lifted my chin up so I would look at him. "I know that. But if I had known she would really have left by herself. I would have gone instead."

I shook my head, stepping back. "I wouldn't have let you. You're always telling me you hate it when I go off. Asking me what I think would happen to you if I never came back. But that's the same when you leave. I always ask myself 'is this the last time I'm going to see him?' and it kills me. I don't think I could survive without you..."

He pulled me forward, noticing how I was on the verge of tears. "How about we promise we never leave each other again. Not unless we absolutely have to?"

I nodded, resting against him again. "Deal."

"Hey." the deep voice caught my attention as I turned to look at Shane who now stood in the door way. "Hey, I'm sorry, bud. Okay? I thought you knew."

Carl flicked his hat. "Big brother Carl. Pretty cool, huh?" he smiled.

"I say that's very cool." Shane laughed. "You, ah, mind if I talk to you mum and sister a sec?"

"How about a little later after they've had some rest?" Andrea spoke up.

Daryl shifted behind me, obviously not liking Shane being here- and asking to speak with me and my mum. But Shane ignored it all.

"Lori, I had to get you back here. You would be worse if I didn't." he told mum before looking over at me. "Vickie-"

"Don't call me that."

He shook his head and went on. "You wouldn't have come back if you knew they were still out there. You said it yourself. Your mum didn't want to leave them out there. I saved your lives."

I looked away and even mum refused to look at him.

"How about you just hear me out, please? It's okay." he asked, moving into the room more.

Carl turned to mum who nodded. He got up and left, closely followed by Dale and Andrea.

I looked up at Daryl and sighed. "Can you give us a minute?"

He shook his head. "There's no way I'm leaving you in here with him."

"She's fine Daryl." mum spoke up. "I'm here."

Looking up at my redneck I could tell he was having an inner argument. On one hand he wanted to stay with me. But he also knew he should listen to my mum. Finally, he nodded and let go of me. "I'll be out on the porch waitin' for ya." he told me before leaving.

As soon as we were alone, I turned to Shane and waited for him to start.

He looked at my mum who refused to look at him. "Okay. It was a lie. It was one little white lie." he smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "But I think that..." he rubbed his hair in frustration. "I think you ought to be thinking about how lucky we are that your both safe; and the baby." he was about to go on when mum spoke up, still looking down at her hands.

"You just can't stop lying, can you? My husband is back safe and sound. My husband is dead in some hospital." the venom in her voice made me feel proud of her. It was the first time she stood up and told him what she really thought.

"Oh. When are you gonna..." he stepped away from her. "When are you gonna stop throwing that in my face, huh? Both of you." he gestured at me. "How many time do I have to tell you?"

"Shut up." I yelled. "Just. Shut, up. Mum's right. All you do is lie; and I don't want to hear anymore of it." I went to leave but he grabbed my arm.

"I thought he was dead." he yelled, he was pleading for me to believe him, to trust him. "But that's not the point. The point is, Vickie, you cannot keep running off. And putting your mum in danger like you did tonight? What were you thinking?"

Mum pulled him away from me. " _I_  took  _her._  She came with  _me_. So, don't you dare yell at her. And don't you dare touch her again." she snapped.

He nodded, stepping back and raising his hands. "I didn't-"

"She told me everything, Shane." mum stood in front of me protectively. "She told me what happened at the CDC. You're dangerous.  _That's_  why we went to go get Rick. Because he can protect us."

He shook his head, angry. "I keep you safe." he pointed to himself, shaking with rage. "I protect you all."

"Like you did with Otis?" mum's voice was calm now. He stopped, taking by surprise. "What happened Shane? Because I don't believe you anymore."

"What happened, happened so I could help Carl. He died a hero." his eyes were wide as he looked away, trying to explain himself. "I love you, and I love Carl. I love Vickie. Heck I love Rick. All I want to do is protect my family."

"We're not your family." she said, her words final and ending. Turning around she gestured for me to leave, putting an arm around me.

We walked out of the house and on to the porch. Daryl stood by the step leaning on the post. He looked up as we came out, pushing himself up and moving towards me.

Smiling I walked into his open arms. "You okay?" he asked as he held me.

I nodded against him, closing my eyes happily.

"It's late. You should get some rest." mum sighed next to us. We both started to head off before she stopped us. "You two don't have to stay all the way out there. You're a part of this group just like the others. You don't have to push us away."

The memories of everything we had been through today came crashing back, and suddenly I felt as if I had been around everyone for too long. I needed space. If I stuck around much longer, people would start asking questions, or worse...

"We need some space, mum. Don't worry about us, though. We'll be fine." I gave her a reassuring smile before we headed off.

 

...

 

I sat by the fire, my hands out stretched to the flames. "It's freezing." I whined. "And I'm tired."

Daryl walked over to me from the spot where he had been roast some squirrels over the fire, placing one in the bowl next to me. He sat down, wrapping an arm around me, pulling me close as he ate. "You know what the doctor said. No sleeping. Unless you don't mind waking up dead."

I laughed. "How do you wake up dead? I mean you're dead... the dead don't wake up." as soon as the words left I felt like an idiot. "Of course, that's what I would have said before the dead rose and started eating us."

He grinned, lips covered in squirrel juice. "You won't have to worry about it anyway. I'll keep you awake."

I bit into my meat, enjoying the taste. While I was gone today, Daryl had gone hunting, caching only these two squirrels. "Oh yeah? How you gonna do that?" I asked, mouth full of food.

He shook his head, still grinning. "Mouth full of food and you're still sexy."

I winked at him, chewing the meat. "You bet."

He chuckled, shaking his head once more.

We ate in silence after that. I gave him the last of my squirrel, full enough for the night. Curling up next to him in front of the fire, I tried to get as warm as possible. He must have noticed me shivering.

He stood and offered me his hand before helping me up. Kicking some sand on the fire to kill it, we then headed for the tent. He gestured for me to go in first, so I did.

I kicked off my shoes and dived for the sleeping bag and blankets, curling up to get warm. He followed me, shrugging off his vest and shirt before sliding under the covers and pulling me close. I snuggled against him, his body heat warming me up instantly.

"Better?"

I nodded against him. "Much."

There was silence for a while, and it was nice and relaxing. Too relaxing.

"I'm gonna fall asleep Daryl." I warned him, pulling myself up so I was leaning on my elbow.

He rolled on to his side, his hand brushing my hair from my face. "How do you propose we fix that?"

"We could talk?" I shrugged. He nodded, pulling me closer against him. When I realized he wasn't going to start, I went on. "Tell me about your brother, Merle?"

Daryl went rigid against me and I was sure he was going to turn over and lock me out. But he surprised me by rolling on to his back and holding me tighter. "Merle taught me everything I know about huntin'. He had to.

"We took care of ourselves. Dad would be gone with some girl. Mum never did anything, anyways drinkin' and smoking. It was just me and Merle. Then he started going to juvie. But it was alright then. The neighbourhood kids would play with me when Merle was gone. It was nice, you know? Being able to be a kid."

I sat up and looked down at him, staring at each other. "I'm sorry he's gone... Merle. I mean, I don't think he's dead. If he can cut his own hand off, it'll take a lot to kill him. But I'm still sorry... for what my dad did. It was wrong."

He shrugged. "I remember what you were like that day. Stealing my knife, then trying to go with us to the city." he grinned, brushing my hair back behind my ear. "Ya tough aren't ya?"

I gave a cocky smile. "Toughest chick out there. I was out there all by myself for quite some time. Getting my food. Looking for water. Killing walkers. I had to be tough to survive."

He frowned, though I knew it was because he hated the thought of me by myself. "You think you could have lasted longer? I mean, what if they didn't find you?"

I shrugged before lying back down, resting my head on his chest. "Honestly, I think if I was out there for another couple of weeks, by myself... I think I would have gone insane. The only thing I did was go into the city, grab food and water, and then head back to the high way. Killing walkers, not being able to sleep without worrying about not waking up and never seeing my family again. It was slowly killing me."

He me squeezed me comfortingly. "You're here now." I looked up at him and smiled. "I'll keep you safe."

I placed a soft kiss on his lips before moving back. We talked all night, until we both agreed it would be okay for me to get some sleep. As I closed my eyes, warm in the arms of my redneck, I couldn't help but feel at peace and happy.

"Daryl?"

"Mmm?"

"Can you do me a favour?"

"What?" he asked cautiously.

I shrugged. "Can you go with Shane and Andrea tomorrow? They're going to go find my dad and the others. But I don't trust Shane."

I nodded. "You think he doesn't want to find Rick?"

"I think he doesn't want to find my dad  _or_ Hershel. I mean he's in charge, and he's got the farm. Why would he want them back?"

He thought about it for a short moment before nodding again. "I'll go."

"Thanks."

**Bamby**


	18. Sides

**VPOV**

I stood with Daryl as he got ready to head off with Shane, T-Dog and Andrea. I watched feeling uneasy at the thought of him leaving. There was no sure way of making sure he got back. And that hurt. The thought of losing him forever.

I placed my hand on his shoulder so he would turn and look at me. I avoided looking at him, not trusting myself. I felt like falling to my knees and begging him not to do this, even though I was the one that asked him to.

"Hey. I'm gonna be alright." his hand came to rest under my chin, pulling it up so I would look at him. "I'll be back."

I tried to smile, but I knew it wasn't very convincing. So, I just nodded, moving closer so I could hug him.

We weren't sure how many of the others knew about us, and I knew Daryl wasn't much of a public-display-of-affection kinda guy. But I couldn't let him leave without hugging him at least one more time.

He was tense at first, probably thinking about everyone looking. But soon enough he relaxed and hugged me back. "Don't walk off. Don't go to our tent. Don't be a hero. And stay safe. If anything happens. If I don't come back. Stay safe. Okay?"

I nodded, stepping back. "Promise."

"Guys." we turned to see Andrea just coming to the group, handing T-Dog a canteen.

I turned to look at the driveway, hearing the sound of a car approaching. As I watched, I recognised the car right away. It was one of ours...

The car came and stopped by the front of the house.

The front door opened as Carl came running out. "Dad." he smiled throwing his arms around dad as soon as he was out of the car.

I stayed by Daryl, stepping closer to him. The relief that they were okay rushed through me, and at the same time I realised Daryl didn't have to go. Everything was okay.

"Go see him." Daryl nudged me.

I nodded and walked over to my dad as he hugged mum. As soon as he saw me he pulled me into his arms, mum stepping back.

"Thank God you're okay." I smiled, holding him tight.

He pulled back and looked at me and mum. "Yeah, but what happened to you two?" he brushed my hair back and I flinched as his finger brushed a bruise.

"We were in a car accident." mum answered.

"Accident? How?"

"We went looking for you." I shrugged. "We were worried."

"They snuck out on their own." Shane's voice shut us up. Mum was still ignoring him, pissed at everything he's done. "I brought them back."

Dad looked from Shane, to me, to mum. "Are you crazy? You could've-"

"Who the hell is that?" at the sound of T-Dog's question we all turned to him to see him looking in the car.

Turning to see what he was talking about I saw another person in the car. It was a guy, around my age. He was blindfolded, and looked like he was in pain.

"That's Randall." Glenn answered casually.

I moved away from my mum and dad, moving closer to the car. Everyone else did te same, wondering who the person was, and if he was a threat...

 

...

 

I stood outside with Daryl, not really wanting to go inside. Dad had explained most of what happened. How two men had come along and started to ask questions. How they drew on him and he had to kill them. How others from their group showed up. The shooting, the walkers, and Randall.

Now they were all inside, trying to decide what they were going to do with our 'hostage', Daryl and I stayed out of it, both of us not feeling the need to add our opinions.

Since the incident at the barn we both started to separate ourselves from the group, and I was starting to wonder if I was doing it solely because that's what Daryl was doing. But then I would remember how I shot Sophia, and I couldn't bear the thought of seeing Carol.

"We should head in there. At least find out what’s going on." Daryl pushed himself off the tree.

I looked over at him, stopping my pacing. "You're not serious?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want them to start talking about yesterday, that's why. What if Carol tries to talk to me. I don't think I can handle that."

He sighed and walked over to me. "If Carol tries to talk to you, just walk off. It may seem cold and but you gotta do what you feel is best for you." looking up at him I knew he was right, so I just nodded before we headed for the house.

As we reached the door, we could hear my dad talking. "When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way."

"Isn't that the same as leaving him for the walkers?" Andrea asked as we entered.

My eyes landed on Carol instantly. She looked at Daryl and me, before smiling slightly. I nodded, not really liking this already. Daryl leaned against the wall, and pulled on my arm. I stepped back and leaned against the wall beside him.

"He'll have a fighting chance." dad told Andrea.

"Just gonna let him go?" Shane asked, obviously hating this idea. "He knows where we are."

"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He's not a threat." dad argued.

"Not a threat. How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain't gonna come looking?"

"They left him for dead." dad told him trying to keep his cool. "No one is looking."

"We should still post a guard." T-Dog spoke up.

"He's out cold right now, will be for hours." Hershel informed us.

"You know what? I'm gonna go get him some flowers and candy." Shane exclaimed sarcastically. "Look at this, folks! We back in fantasy land!" as he walked away, Hershel turned to him.

"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet." Shane turned to look at Hershel as the old man lectured him. "Let me make this clear once and for all. This is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So, do us both a favour. Keep your mouth shut." he finished.

Shane just looked at him, gave a short and annoyed nod and turned. Sighing he walked out, leaving the rest of us.

"Look," dad moved to Hershel, "we're not gonna do anything about it today. Let's just cool off."

With that everyone started to head off, going in their own directions. I noticed Carol started to head towards Daryl and I and I dashed for the door beside me. I slipped out, snaking through the other couple of people who had walked through that door. I was nowhere near ready to face her.

So, I headed for Daryl's tent, hoping she wouldn't follow me.

**DPOV**

"Why won't she talk to me?" Carol asked as she walked Vic walk off through the window.

I sighed and pushed myself off the wall. "She shot your daughter in the head. Why do you think she ran?" I shook my head opening the door.

Carol's hand rested on my arm, stopping me. "You two don't have to push us away. You're both apart of this group."

I shrugged her arm off. "Yeah well maybe we don't wanna be a part of it." I told her, keeping my back facing her, before walking off to go find Victoria.

**Bamby**


	19. Animals

**VPOV**

Day one with a hostage and it was like everything had fallen apart.

We had at least one person by the shed on guard at all times. Shane and my dad were constantly arguing. Maggie and mum were on Beth watch. Hershel and Dale were making Shane worse- though I'm sure they weren't doing it on purpose. Glenn wasn't talking to Maggie. Maggie wasn't talking to Hershel.

Guns were handed out, even though Hershel didn't want certain people to have any. And suddenly everyone was on lookout for intruders- apparently, they thought we were about to be ambushed by Randall's people.

Daryl and I though, we stuck to ourselves. We hadn't even gone to the house since yesterday.

"Can you teach me how to track?" I asked Daryl as I sat watching him sharpen his knives.

He moved on to the next one. "Why?" he asked, amused.

I shrugged, standing up and stretching. "What if you go missing? None of us have the skills to find you."

He nodded, taking in my reason. "But I know how to find my way back." he pointed out.

I smirked and walked over to him, standing toe to toe. "You scared I'll be better than you?"

He shook his head and stood up, grabbing his crossbow. "Let's go then."

 

...

 

We were walking through the woods, following the tracks of a deer. Daryl had shown me how he knew it was a deer, and pointed out every detail on the ground that told him we were going in the right direction. I listened carefully, really wanting to learn, to prove I could be helpful.

"There."

I looked up from the ground to see Daryl pointing at the deer. It stood by the edge of a waterhole.

It was beautiful sight. The deer by the water, a small waterfall in the back. The water running of the rocks of the cliff.

I smiled, stepping closer to the deer when Daryl's hand rested on my arm. I turned to him to see question in his eyes.

"You really wanna kill it?" I whispered.

He nodded. "Lead it back to camp."

I sighed and nodded, letting him take the lead as he stalked the deer. But suddenly it lifted its head and dashed off.

Daryl groaned in annoyance. "Damn deer!"

I laughed, walking towards the water. "Calm down." I told him over my shoulder, kicking my shoes off.

I looked up to see the sun shining down on to the waterhole, probably warming the water. It was just too inviting not to dip my toes in. As I stepped in, ankle-deep, I smiled and closed my eyes, enjoying the water and sun. It was amazing.

"What are you doin'?"

I shrugged, lifting my tank top over my head and dropping it by my shoes. "Swimming."

"Swimmin'?"

I nodded, unbuttoning my shorts and slipping them off. "Wouldn't want to waste this, would I? I mean, sun, water, you'd have to be stupid not to jump in." I slipped out of the shorts before letting them join my shirt and shoes.

My hands came to the back of my bra, unclasping them and letting the straps slide down my shoulders before I took it off. There was no way I was going to be walking around in wet underwear, so I took them off too, leaving me naked in the sun light.

Without turning to see Daryl, I walked into the water. It only came to my waist, but I moved to where the water dripped off the rocks enough to be a shower. I stood under it, running my hands through my hair.

Looking over at Daryl I saw him staring at me, looking me up and down with lustful eyes. "Wanna join me?" I grinned.

He shook his head, swallowing.

My grin widened at his speechlessness. "Cat got your tongue?" I asked, moving out of the water, heading towards him. Pulling my hair over my shoulder and twisting it to ring some water out, I stopped in front of him, naked and exposed.

My hands moved to his chest, letting them rest there as I looked him up and down. His hand came to caress my cheek before sliding down to rest on my waist.

I leaned closer, kissing him sweetly. "You're not going to let me be naked all by myself, are you?" my hands undid one of the buttons of his shirt.

That's all it took. Suddenly I was pressed against a tree as our hands humbled to undo the buttons on his shirt. He pressed his lips against mine in a kiss that set my body on fire with my own lust to match his.

I could feel this was going to be rough, animalistic and passionate... and that just fuelled my excitement.

Daryl's shirt fell. His hands grasped my naked thighs, pulling my legs up and around his waist. He ground his arousal against me, our lips still pressing together hungrily. It didn't take long for me to start grinding against him, the familiar heat building in my core.

My hands grasped his biceps, loving the feel off his muscles tense under me. His lips moved to nibble on my neck where his teeth grazed my skin, turning me on even more.

"Daryl." I moaned. "Now, please."

Using one hand he undid the button and zip on his pants before letting his member out. I looked down as he stroked it, bringing it closer to me, turning me on even more.

"You ready?" he groaned in my ear. I nodded frantically, my eyes unable to look away as I watched him plunge into me.

The moan that came out of me was nothing I had ever heard before. It was wild and needy, yet seemed to get Daryl harder.

He slammed himself into me, causing me to bump up and down which added to the friction between us. I cried for more, my nails digging into his shoulders as I pushed myself down before he pulled away, slamming back into me with a greater force then before.

"Faster." I begged, needing that release that was just out of reach.

I watched him work himself in and out of me as he sucked on my neck, nibbling and licking. Breathing heavily into my ear he worked faster, his heart pounding against my chest, mine probably doing the same against his.

"Oh, God!" I cried as he pounded in me hard. I gripped his arms to keep me up.

He growled, his hands grasping my thighs so tight I knew I'd have marks later.

I bit my lower lip moaning at the sound of his growl. It sent a new wave of arousal through me, adding to the fire. "I'm so close." I gasped.

One of his hands moved in between us before rubbing my small, sensitive nub. My mouth opened in a silent scream as his rubbed the bundle of nerves. "Urgh!" that's all it took before I was sent over the edge, screaming out in pleasure as the climax rippled through my body.

Daryl's body shook as he released himself into me, groaning in pleasure. He buried his head in my neck as he rode it out, holding me to him.

 

...

 

I grinned at Daryl as we walked through the woods, his eyes wandering over to look at me every now and then.

"What?" I asked him, stopping in my tracks, finding it hard to hide my amusement.

He shrugged. "You never seemed like the girl that would be like that."

"Like what?" I stepped closer to him, noticing the way his eyes roamed my body.

"Never thought you'd like it rough, in the woods, with a guy like me." he shrugged, his hand brushing my arm.

I leaned forward and kissed him gently, letting it last awhile before pulling back. "Maybe you're changing me? Or maybe I just can't resist you?"

He grinned, pulling me flush against him. "You know if I wasn' so hungry you'd already be naked again."

I smiled sheepishly, stepping back. "Better fill ya up then, huh?" I winked before continuing towards the farm.

We were silent for a while, Daryl following me as I led the way.

"Do you know where you're going?" Daryl asked. I wasn't sure if he was teasing or serious.

I shrugged. "Yeah. I'm following our path, see?" I pointed at the broken twigs and foot prints in the ground, that I was sure was ours.

Daryl stepped forward so he stood beside me and knelt to the ground, checking out what I had pointed out. When he stood, he looked impressed. "Gotta say, you're a fast learner."

"Well," I smiled proudly, "I've got a good teacher."

**DPOV**

I still couldn't wrap my head around what had happened out in the woods today with Vic. She had been an animal; and it was hot.

Before the world turned to shit, back in my home town, I hadn't been much of a relationship guy. Merle had taught me that once you sleep with a girl you get rid of her fast.  _You never know what they'll want out of ya once they're comfortable._

My longest relationship had been three months. And most of that had been spent fighting. Sure, we had sex, but after a while it was like hell. She wanted money all the time. Wanted to change my house, my clothes. She didn't like Merle...

That was the thing that made me toss girls most of the time. If they didn't like Merle, they had to go. Blood's blood, and no matter what he did, he was still my brother.

"What're you thinking about?" Vic came and sat next to me as I skinned a rabbit I caught on the way back.

I shrugged, automatically leaning closer to her. "Merle." she nodded and dropped the subject, letting me get the rabbit ready to cook.

That was one of the great things about her, she didn't bug me to tell her things. If I didn't want to talk, she'd let me know she was there and then drop it. She could tell just by listening to my tone if I wanted to keep talking, or keep quiet.

We never argued- except when she got herself in danger. It was never uncomfortable. She was interesting, and brave, and strong, and smart. She could make me smile, which even I knew was rare.

I knew that no matter what happened, I was sticking with her. If the group fell apart. If she left. If we were all separated. Nothing could stop me from being with her. And if that meant fighting my way through walkers, or  _anything_  to get to her, I'd do it.

**Bamby**


	20. The Hostage

**VPOV**

Day three with the hostage and nothing had gotten better. But none of it effected Daryl and me. We kept to ourselves, hunting for the others during the day and staying at our own camp spot at night.

Right now, Daryl was hunting by himself. I told him I was going to stay and grab some food from the house, like eggs and vegetables. We had run out last night.

As I neared the house I saw my dad and Shane arguing... again. But I ignored it. The moment I stuck my nose in their business would be the moment they started talking to me- which would eventually end up with us talking about Sophia. But it still hurt too much to even say her name.

"You wanna help me collect the eggs?" I looked away from my dad and Shane to see Maggie standing on the porch with a basket in hand. "Could use the company." she told me.

I shrugged following her as she headed to the chicken pen. I didn't really know why I agreed. I guess some part of me wanted to apologise for shooting all the walkers, and ask about Beth. But there was still that uneasy feeling that made me want to avoid everyone.

She opened the cage door and stepped in, though I stayed out, watching the chickens with a smile on my face. I had always loved animals.

"So, you gonna talk, or are you still avoiding' me?"

I turned to look at Maggie, surprised she was bold enough to say that. "I'm not-"

"I'm not stupid." she interrupted. "You've been avoiding me like the plague. So, speak up. Tell me what’s on your mind."

I hesitated, wondering how I would say it, or what her reaction would be like. But after I left us in silence for a while, I just went for it. "I'm sorry. What Shane did was wrong. And I'm sorry I took part of that." I looked away from her, watching the tree-line. "I hated being a part of it. I hated shooting those walkers knowing they were once people you cared for; people you knew. And every time I shot one, I thought about how you should hate me.

"Then when Beth went into shock, I blamed myself a little. I was a part of the group that killed her mum and brother. I was part of the reason she's ill. And I hate that we've become these cold, ridged creatures. We're not even human anymore; and it hurts, thinking about what we've become."

Silence. All I could hear was the clucking of the chickens and the rusting of the hay as Maggie collected the eggs. But she didn't speak, not right away, and it ate at me. I wondered what she could possibly be thinking about.

"Do you feel better?" she asked as she exited the pen. There was no anger, no hate, no sarcasm in her tone.

"Actually no."

She shrugged heading off. I followed, waiting for her to say something else. "You know, it wasn't your fault. You tried to stop him. You tried to talk him out of it. You held back. I saw what you did, how you didn't start shooting right away. You waited until there were too many for the others to kill."

I kept my eyes on the ground as we headed for the house. "I still did it."

She stopped in her tracks, causing me to stop as well. Turning to look at her she shook her head. "Shane is the one in the wrong. You did what was right."

 

...

 

After Maggie gave me some food I went to go back to Daryl's and my tent. But on the way, I bumped into Carol... or well she walked to me and stopped me.

I avoiding looking at her, trying to get past, but she kept blocking any path.

"Victoria, stop."

I shook my head. "I don't want to hear it. I don't want you to thank me, or hate me, or feel sorry. I don't want to look at you and see her face. I don't want you to tell me how you feel. All I want is to go and chop up some carrots."

As I tried to pass her again, she grabbed the basket from my hands and stepped back. "Well you're going to hear it anyway."

I shook my head and just walked past her. I didn't care if that meant we only had meat to eat tonight. There was just no way I was going to stand around and listen to her.

Yet she still followed me. "Sophia loved you. You showed her how to laugh and smile when there was nothing to be happy about. You cared for her better than I had done for most of her life. You protected her, and I know you did the best you could.

"Victoria, I don't hate you. If anything, I sympathise for you. You’d been beating yourself up at the thought of her being out there. Your brother and you got shot while you looked for her. Daryl nearly died out there. And to find out your time was wasted? I know how you felt.

"You stood up, you did the one thing I don't think anyone was prepared to do. You killed the thing that had taken over her. You let her rest. So yes, I'm going to thank you; and I'm going to be sorry for you."

I turned around, eyes blazing as I fought tears. "I killed her!" I yelled, finger pointing at my chest. "I did. I left her out there. I shot her. I killed her. If it wasn't for me, you'd still have your little girl. So, don't you dare feel sorry for me."

She shook her head. "I don't believe that."

"Well then you're an idiot." I snatched the basket from her hands and stormed off.

**RPOV**

I had been arguing with Shane again. He still thought killing Randall was the only option, but I was determined to keep the boy alive.

Walking into the tent I found Lori sitting on our bed in deep thought. "You alright?"

She sat up and shook her head. "We need to talk." I nodded, sitting next to her. "It's about Vickie."

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "I talked to Daryl and I think he'll be good for her. You just have to give him a chance."

"It's not Daryl I'm worried about. It's Shane."

I looked up at her confused. "What about him?"

That's when she told me everything. About how she had known they were together even before she was eighteen, even though it was illegal and he was a cop. How she had seen them the day they lost Vickie. How he had tried to rape her.

My body was tense with rage. That was my little girl he was touching.

"Before I knew about the CDC he kept telling me he thought Daryl was going to hurt her. He really got me thinking, making me feel like he was the best option for her..." Lori chewed her nail in thought. "I think he was trying to convince me to get her to be with him and leave Daryl."

I nodded. "He was doing the same with me."

"He thinks he knows what's best for her. He'll do anything to make sure she's safe... and with him."

"Do you think he'll hurt her?"

She shook her head. "I think he'll hurt you or Daryl first." she shifted slightly before explaining. "He thinks you're putting her in danger, and he needs Daryl out of the picture. He honestly thinks he loves her, Rick. And I think you're in danger because of it."

**VPOV**

Daryl had been taking a while, and I was starting to feel guilty about yelling at Carol. So, I headed over to the camp, looking for her to apologise.

She was walking out of the house, a plate of food in her hands. I walked over to her, and she stopped once she saw me coming.

"I'm sorry. That was wrong of me. I shouldn't have yelled at you and I shouldn't have said all the things I did."

She nodded. "I wasn't upset. I know you didn't mean it."

I looked away then, glad that was done with. "Do you need a hand with anything?"

She sighed. "Well, I gotta go give this to Randall." she gestured to the plate. Before she could say anything else I grabbed the plate.

"I'll do it."

"You sure?"

I nodded. "I wanna meet this guy, talk to him."

She looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Okay but don't be too long. Rick and Shane don't like us talking to him."

"You won't tell them?"

"Tell them what?" she smiled sheepishly before walking off.

I headed over to the shed, noticing Dale was on watch. He looked over at me and nodded to the food. "I thought Carol was-"

"I offered. I wanna meet the guy everyone's talking about."

He nodded, unlocking the door. "He doesn't say much so far. Just asks us to let him go." I nodded and went to step in when he stopped me. "T-Dog will be down here soon. So, whatever you're going to say to him, do it quick." he looked at me knowingly.

With that I walked inside and closed the door behind me.

The guy sat on the ground, hand cuffed to the wall. He was dirty, covered in dust, dirt, sweat and blood. Looking up at me he watched curiously probably noticing that I was a new face.

I sat on the ground in front of him. Keeping eye contact I started to feed him, his hands cuffed and unable to do anything.

After a few mouth fulls, he shook his head and spoke. "Are you one of the ones that want me dead?"

I shrugged. "I'm not one for killing people unless they're already dead."

His eyes lit up with hope. "So, will you let me go?"

I shook my head, grinning. "I may not want to kill you, but I don't exactly want to let you run off and tell your friends about us."

"I won't I promise."

I just kept smiling, shaking my head. "One thing you should know about me... I'm not stupid."

He sighed, leaning back against the wall as I started to feed him again. He watched me, never making a move to try to hurt me. Never spitting, or kicking or cussing. And I was honestly starting to think there was nothing dangerous about him.

"You have a nice smile, you know?"

I laughed. "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"No, I'm telling the truth." he shifted closer again. "Everyone else comes in and stuffs food in my face. They don't say a word. But you? You're really nice." I lifted the last spoonful of food but he shook his head. "If I eat that, you go. I don't want to be alone again."

I just shrugged and stood up. "Suit yourself."

"No, wait, wait!"

I turned around to look at him as he struggled against the cuffs. "Will you come back? Before they do whatever they're gonna do?"

I shrugged. "We'll see."

**Bamby**


	21. Caught Red Handed

**VPOV**

Day five. I didn't go and see Randall yesterday, knowing Daryl wouldn't like it if I did; we had gone hunting instead. But today he was busy doing God knows what. It was one of the good things about us. We didn't have to be with the other person all the time.

So, I was using the time to go talk to Randall again. Last time I couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. He had made me laugh, and smile and seemed like an okay person.

"What are you doing?" Glenn asked as he leaned against the door of the shed.

I rolled my eyes, gesturing to the plate of food in my hands. Carol had given it to me again, making sure no one saw. "Carol asked me to do it. She's not feeling well."

He looked around anxiously before turning back to me. "I don't think Rick or Daryl would like you going in there..."

Sighing I stepped closer. "Do you wanna do it then? Sit there and feed him? Because I'd be quite happy to stay out here on guard."

He shook his head frantically. "You can do it." he said as he turned and unlocked the door. "Just don't tell them I let you in."

I nodded before walking in, and closed the door. But before it closed Glenn looked at me questioningly. I shrugged. "I like the door closed." I told him before closing it and turning to Randall.

He looked up at me and smiled. "You're back."

I shrugged and sat in front of him like last time. "Yep."

He scooted across the floor so he was as close as he could get- not that he moved very far. I started to fed him, feeling his eyes on me the whole time. But he didn't look at me like a criminal or anything; actually, he looked at me with hope and wonder. I knew he thought I was the best chance of getting out of here.

Once he was finished, he moved back against the wall. "What's your name?"

I shook my head. "No personal info, sorry."

"But you know my name." he pointed out.

I knew I shouldn't tell him, but I couldn't help it. Looking at him chained up I felt sorry for him. "Victoria."

He smiled. "That's a nice name."

Rolling my eyes, I stood up. "Look, Randall. Some of my people think you're dangerous, but I'm pretty sure they'll let you go. So, if they do, just try to keep quiet. The moment you annoy them will be the moment things get bad for you. Just shut up and keep your head low."

He nodded and I turned for the door. "Wait, you're going?"

"I have things I have to do."

"Will I see you again?"

I rested my head against the door, hating all of this. It was wrong, keeping him as a hostage. "I don't know, Randall."

"Well, will you at least help me? Try and get them to let me go?"

I thought about it, thinking about standing with the group and telling them to let him go free. But I knew I couldn't do it. It wasn't that I thought they wouldn't care, or that I didn't think he should be let go. I just knew that whatever they were going to do, they'd do no matter what I said.

"I'm sorry. I really am. But if you're looking for someone who can help, you've picked the wrong person."

 

...

 

I headed back towards Daryl's and my camp. I had made a detour to the house to check up on Beth- who was still in bad shape. Seeing as she was my best friend's sister, I thought it would be a good idea to show her my support.

On the way back though, I was stopped by my dad, who looked nothing but pissed.

"What were you doing in the shed?" he asked, stopping in front of me with his hands on his hips.

I sighed, busted. "I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Everyone's been on edge because of him, and I wanted to know why."

He looked away, jaw clenched. "You know you're not allowed in there."

"Carol is."

"Carol's not my daughter!" he leaned in, voice strained from anger. "You are. And I want you to stay away from him from now on. Do you understand?"

I held my ground, standing there without answering. I knew there was no way he was going to listen to any argument I could think up. All I could do was stand there and say nothing, which probably annoyed him more...

"Answer me, Victoria." his voice was low and aggravated. He wasn't going to play along with my mind games.

Sighing I gave up. "I understand."

He nodded and stepped back, a little calmer. I went to walk away, gathering he was finished; but he stopped me again.

"Your mum told me... about Shane."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"I know about the CDC." turning towards him I noticed he was avoiding looking at me. "I need to know he if ever touched-"

"We never did anything. He was drunk and jealous that you trusted Daryl." I wasn't sure why but I felt like I had to clear everything up. Shane wasn't a really bad guy, he just made poor decisions. "I honestly thought I loved him before I was separated when everything happened. But when I came back and then found out you were alive I turned my back on him.

"Shane took that hard. I think he feels as if he has feelings for me. But I don't know. All you need to know is that he did somethings that he shouldn't have done and since then he hasn't touched me."

Dad nodded, hands back on hips. "Do you think he's dangerous?"

That was not the question I had expected. I had thought he'd ask me about what he had done, and if there was anything mum didn't know that he needed to know. I thought maybe he would want to know what Daryl's part is in all of this, or something simple like that. But no, he picked the hardest question.

How was I supposed to answer? Yes, he's dangerous because he's had the training to hurt or even kill. Yes, he's dangerous because his life is always at risk now and he'll do anything to survive. Yes, he's dangerous because he's passionate. But he's smart and loyal and responsible. At least the old Shane was.

Dad looked at me expectantly. "Do you think he'd hurt someone if they got in his way?"

"Yes." it was as simple as that. "If someone got in his way. If he wanted something but someone was stopping him. Then yes, he could be dangerous."

Dad nodded, turning away slightly. "He wants you, doesn't he?"

"Yes."

Still nodding he turned and started to walk off. "I don't want to hear you've been in the shed, again." he called as he walked away.

**Bamby**


	22. Energy to Burn

**VPOV**

Dad and Shane left in the morning, Randall tied up and blindfolded before being shoved into the trunk. They taped headphones to his ears and gaged him, treating him like an animal. As they walked him to the car, before he was blindfolded, he looked at me. His eyes were pleading and begging for help. Locked on mine, unwavering and desperate.

I had turned away, not wanting to watch as they man handled the kid into the car. Instead I turned and headed for the tent.

I grabbed my hand gun, tucking it into the back of my pants, before starting for the tree-line.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I've already told you not to go off alone."

I sighed and looked over at Daryl who was heading back from the main camp. He had stayed to make sure Randall didn't cause any problems.

"I need to let off some steam. Throw a rock or run a mile. Anything to tire me out." I told him as he stopped in front of me.

He looked down, his hands resting on my hips. "I can think of safer things to do that'll tire you out." he leaned forward, his lips pressing against mine.

I smiled, unable to help the feeling of bliss I instantly felt as he held me to him, kissing me tenderly. I've probably said it a billion times, but it just amazed me that Daryl was a rude, abrupt, redneck that was tough as nails; yet with me he was a gentleman and-

Suddenly his hand reached around, pulled out the gun and stepped back. "You won't be needing this." he emptied the barrel before tucking the bullets in the pocket of his vest.

I frowned at him, unable to even complain. I was just so surprised he had manipulated me like that.

He moved over to his bike, putting the gun in his bag. "I won't have you running off. Not when the towns over run and there's men out there who shot at your dad. I can't have you disappearing."

Rolling my eyes, I stormed over to the tent and slipped in, zipping the door behind me. If I wasn't allowed to go, then I didn't want to help with chores or spend time with him. I know it sounds immature, but I was throwing a tantrum.

**RPOV**

Stopping the car at an intersection, I walked out into the middle of the road, knowing Shane would follow me.

I needed to talk to him, to understand where he's at when it came to Vickie.

"I thought we were going further." he questioned.

"We are." I turned around to look at him. "Eighteen miles out." I stopped in the middle of the intersection, waiting for him to as well.

"So why are we stopping?" he surveyed the area, gun at the ready.

I turned to look at him as he got closer. "I wanted to talk." he stopped in front of me. "Been waiting a week till we were gonna do this." I shrugged. "I just wanna talk."

He looked away from me. "We don't need to."

"We do."

"No, man, we don't." he turned to look at me again. "We're doing this. I get it. He was passed out when you all brought him back, doesn't know where the farm is..."

"That isn't what I need to talk to you about." I gave him a pointed look, and after a moment of silence I went on. "I heard what really happened at the school." I sighed. "Was it to survive?"

After a moment’s hesitation he answered. "Yeah. One of us wasn't gonna make it out. It had to be him. One shot to the leg, Carl lives. Reality is," he looked down at the ground, "he had no business being here. There. Whatever."

"You don't think I would've done it?"

"No, man, I know you wouldn't have."

"You don't think I can keep Lori, Carl or Victoria safe?"

"I didn't say that."

"Is it gonna be me too?"

He shook his head. "Rick, you can't just be the good guy and expect to live. Not anymore."

"I'm not the good guy anymore. To save Carl or Victoria's life, I would've done anything. Anything." I leaned in closer, trying to drive my words in. "Now Lori says you're dangerous, but you're not gonna be dangerous. Not to us, not to me, not anymore." when he refused to look at me I started getting worked up. "How 'bout you look at me?"

He did and there was a silence that spread between us. I knew then I had to say what was really on my mind.

"You and Vickie..." I nodded at him so he knew I knew everything. "When I found out I wanted to break your jaw, let you choke on your teeth. But I didn't. That wasn't weakness. It took everything. That is  _my_ daughter. That is  _my_ family. I will stay alive to keep them alive." I looked him in the eyes, even though he refused to look at me. "You don't love her. You think you do, but you don't."

He looked torn, as if he was trying to fight off my words.

"Now the only way that you and me keep on, is that you accept everything I just said right here, right now, and we move forward with that understanding." there was a silent agreement between us, and I turned to head back to the car, ready to move on.

"When it started it was just... It was a couple weird storied on the news. Then it was so quick. Everything, it just happened. Two weeks later, I'm in the hospital and there were soldiers shooting people in the halls. They were shooting people, man, not walkers. Then the walkers came through.

"You know, I tried to get you out, I tried, but we weren't gonna make it. Man, there was no way and I knew it. But I couldn't live with it. I couldn't live knowing, but I had to. I didn't keep them alive, man. They kept me alive.

"I want you to know that before that, we were gonna tell you. She wanted to, and I wanted to. But after you found us, she..." he paused. "Brother, if I could take it all back, I would. I would have told you long ago. I would have protected you. I would, I swear."

I stood there, taking in his words. I could tell he was telling the truth. I knew that there was part of him that loved Vickie, there had to be; he'd known her for her whole life, and that would have built a connection. But I didn't think he loved her the way Daryl did- even though he hadn't admitted that yet.

"I'm gonna check the ropes." I called over my shoulder before moving to the trunk to check on Randall.

**VPOV**

After about two hours of sitting in the tent brushing my hair, reading a book and sharpening my knife, I gathered I should go do something productive. So, I had walked off, knowing Daryl was watching me, and headed for the house.

I found Maggie in the kitchen, cleaning up dishes.

"Hey." I gave her a half-smile as I sat up on the bench. "Can you do me a favour?"

She shook her head, turning to show me her grin. "I'm not helping you get out of here."

My jaw dropped. "How'd you know-"

"Glenn and Daryl were talking an hour ago. Glenn wanted to know if you wanted to sit up on the RV and keep him company while he was on guard. But turns out you were ignoring the world 'cause Daryl wouldn't let you go walker huntin'."

I looked away. "Well I need to let off some steam." looking back up at her I pleaded my case. "I've been sitting on my butt with energy to burn for days. I hunt, I clean, I cook, I guard, but everything I do isn't enough. I want some action."

But she just shook her head. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to do something behind Daryl's back... and what about your parents?" she turned back to the dishes. "There's no way I'm going to do something knowing it would anger the ones that love you. They're not the kind of people you cross."

Sighing I got off the counter and grabbed a tea towel. "You're no fun."

**RPOV**

Shane and I turned away from the boy, walking back to the car. He called to us, trying to convince us to let him come back with us. Part of me wanted to turn around and help him. It was the human thing to do. But then I would think of my family, of my unborn child, and I knew I couldn't let him come back with us.

"I went to school with Maggie, for God's sake!"

I stopped in my tracks, those words echoing through my mind. It was the worst thing he could have said.

"I went to church. I rode the bench on varsity baseball."

I stormed over to him, Shane close behind. "You went to school with Maggie?"

"You go to school with Maggie? Answer the question!" Shane yelled at the kid. "Did you go to school with Maggie?"

"I..." he shook his head in a panic as we got closer to him. "She didn't know me. Didn't even know I existed. I mean, I knew her. I knew who her dad was."

I turned away, rubbing my face as the realization hit me. We were in danger. If we left this kid and he found his group, there was a possibility he'd lead them straight back to us...

"There is no way I would ever do anything to hurt her or her family. Or you. Or your people."

"Jesus." Shane was just as worried as I was.

"I'm not like the guys I was with!"

"He knows where the farm is, Rick. Where we are. He knows. Say he finds his way back to his people." Shane was putting my thoughts out in the open, speaking everything I was already worrying about.

I didn't reply, I didn't know what to say. There were too many things running through my mind.

Shane grabbed his gun aiming and ready to shoot...

"Shane, no!" I pushed him away so he missed.

The gun went off as we fell to the ground.

"Not now. Just not now." I stood over him, placing a foot on his gun.

He elbowed the car with frustration. "Well, when, Rick? When?"

I kicked the gun away. "When I've had a chance to think about it."

"Don't let him kill me. Please don't."

I turned to the kid, my back to Shane. "Shut up!" I paced a little before speaking up. "We're going back. It's a man's life. I need a night to think it through."

"You're gonna bring this piece of garbage, this piece of garbage who... He shot at you, Rick. He ran with men who tried to kill you. You gonna bring him back to where Lori sleeps? To where Victoria sleeps?"

"He'll be locked up in the barn, unless you bust it open."

"Oh, don't start that shit."

Stepping back and facing away from him again. "I'm taking the night."

"You know what, man? You take it, you think on it, Rick. Keep struggling with it. It ain't hard man. The right choice is the one that keeps us alive. It's always the same with you." he got up. "It's like the first moment, it's whenever you're put to the test."

"Stop acting like you know the way ahead, like you know the rules." I leaned in. "There are no rules, man. We're lost."

"No, no, no, man. I know exactly where I am."

"You don't know shit any more."

He looked away. "I don't think you can do it, Rick."

I scoffed, not caring if he thought I could or not. "It's my call, man."

"I don't think you can keep them safe."

I stopped, no longer fidgeting on the spot. No, now I was still. I was pissed.  _How dare he say I can't take care of my family. How dare he!_

That's all it took before I lunged forward...

**Bamby**


	23. Innocent Memories

**VPOV**

I had decided to help Carol out around the camp. Mum was taking care of Beth, while Andrea stayed on guard. So, Carol was left to do everything herself.

I knew there were things I should have been doing back at my own camp with Daryl; dinner needed preparing, the camp fire built and ready for tonight, clothes washed and put away. But I didn't feel like doing any of that. I was still a little upset with Daryl.

I knew he was just looking out for me, but I was tired of keeping it safe. I'm not saying I wanted to run into a building full of walkers. All I wanted was to go out and hunt, or walk, or do anything out in the woods... by myself.

"You're doing it again."

I looked over at Carol as she handed my wet clothes from the basket. "Doing what."

"You're making that face when you think about not being able to go out by yourself." she gave me a knowing look.

I sighed, getting back to work. "Does everybody know?"

She laughed. "When Glenn told Maggie, he wasn't exactly quiet about it. But I don't think everyone knows."

She handed me the last thing out of the basket. "I know it sounds stupid, but I just don't feel like we're living anymore." I turned to her, hoping she'd understand. "We sit here, on this farm cleaning, cooking and waiting to be picked off. We're surviving, sure... but what kind of life is this? We should be out there, helping others and killing walkers one by one. Making a difference. Saving the world... or at least trying to.

"But no, we stand around, holding each other as we stay awake at night thinking about when it'll be our turn to die. Will it be tomorrow? Will it be in a week, a month, a year? Will we get bitten, shot, or just run out of food all together? That's all we do. Wait to find out how it ends. And I don't want to do that anymore." I shrugged and walked away, heading for the barn.

**DPOV**

I looked around the farm for Vickie. She wasn't in the house, or at the camp, and I was seriously starting to worry. I knew she wasn't crazy enough to run off, but I still wondered if she had convinced someone to go with her...

"She's in the barn." Dale called as he exited the RV. I looked over at him and he shrugged. "Went over there about half an hour ago. I've been keeping an eye out, making sure she doesn't go off. But she's just stayed there."

I nodded my thanks and headed for the barn.

I found her sitting up the top and looking out at the farm. Sighing I climbed up and sat next to her, both of us not saying anything.

She shifted and rested her head against my shoulder. "I'm sorry I acted like a child."

Grinning I shrugged, wrapping an arm around her. "You're safe, that's all that matters."

She looked up at me. "I need you to do me a favour..."

"What?"

"If anything happens to me. I need you to stay with my family."

"Vic-" I began to argue, saying nothing would happen to her, but she stopped me.

Moving back so she could look at me properly she went on. "In this world there's no sure way of knowing how much longer we have left. All I'm asking is that you stay with these people. You protect them and live your life, even if I'm gone. I know if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be as open as you are, and it scares me to think that if I go, you'll head off on your own. I trust you, and I know you can keep my family safe. But I also know they can keep you  _alive_."

I looked away from her, her eyes bearing into mine. "Vic, I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

She smiled slightly and leaned over, kissing my cheek softly. "I know. But one day someone is going to make a mistake. Whether it be you, me, or someone else. And when that happens, one of us is going to get hurt."

She finished there. I knew she wasn't going to say anymore until I gave her an answer; until I told her yes or no. And that's all that was left fo me to do.

"I promise, I'll stay with them."

Her smile brightened a little as she moved back next to me and leaned her head on my shoulder again. There was nothing else to say. We just sat there looking out at the world.

**VPOV**

Daryl and I headed back to the camp to grab some water before moving on to our tent. We had spent a couple of hours in the barn just watching the world, listening to everything around us.

"What do you miss about your life before all of this?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

I smiled up at him. "There has to be something."

"Well what do you miss?"

I looked down at the ground, a fond memory coming to mind. "I miss sneaking out and heading over to the old play equipment. It had been over taken by weeds and the grass went up to my knees. But whenever I felt like I needed an escape I would go there and sit on top of the slide, remembering all the times I had gone there when I was little.

"My favourite had been the swing, but by then the chains had rusted and the bars holding it up weren't strong enough for me to use them. So, I just sat up on the slide for hours reliving the fun through my memories."

I looked up at Daryl not expecting to see him looking down at me with a look I hadn't seen before. I couldn't describe it, but I liked it. It made me feel like a little school girl again. Like nothing in the world was bad.

"So, what do you miss?"

"Huntin'."

"Hunting?" I smiled up at him. "Are you messing with me? You do that now."

He just shook his head. "Nah, it was different. Didn't have to worry about walkers. It was easy. And I was always with Merle... well most of the time." he shifted his crossbow on his shoulder, and I knew he felt uncomfortable. "It's stupid, I know."

I stopped walking, grabbing his wrist. "I think it's a perfectly good thing to miss." I leaned over on my toes and kissed him sweetly, letting it linger for a while before resting my head on his chest. "I think you're perfect."

**Bamby**


	24. Getting Dirty

**DPOV**

I stood in front of the boy Rick and Shane had brought back- even though they were supposed to get rid of him yesterday.

Rick had asked me to see if I could get any information from him... but so far, he wasn't being helpful. Which meant the only thing left to do, would be to force him to speak.

Randall was already half sitting and half lying, his face swollen and bloody. "I told you..."

"You ain't told me shit!" I grabbed him by the shirt and sat him upright.

"I barely knew those guys. I met them on the road."

"How many in you group?" but he just sat there panting, shaking his head. It was time to go to the next level.

"Uh..." he watched as I got my knife out. "No, no, no. Come on, man."

I lunged forward, the knife stabbing the ground right near his leg. "How many?"

"Uh, Thirty. Thirty. Thirty guys."

"Where?"

"Uh..." when he didn't answer I ripped the bandage off his leg. He yelled in pain. "I don't know. We were never anyplace more than a night."

"Scouting? Planning on staying local?" I pressed the tip of my knife on his healing wound.

"I... I don't know. They left me behind."

"You ever pick off a scab?" I pressed the knife down harder.

"Oh, come on, man. I'm trying to cooperate."

"Start real slow at first. Sooner or later, you just gotta rip it off "

That's all it took before he started talking. "Okay. Okay." he took a breath. "They have weapons, heavy stuff, automatics. But I didn't do anything "

"Your boys shot at my boys, tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride? You're trying to tell me you're innocent?"

"Yes!" he yelled. "These... These people took me in. Not just guys, a whole group of them. Men and women, kids too. Just like you people. Thought I'd have a better chance with them, you know? But we go out, scavenging, just the men. One night, we... we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters... teenagers, you know? Real young. Real cute." he looked up at me.

I stopped my pacing, knowing exactly what he meant. And then I thought about Vic. What if she was ever in that situation. If I couldn't protect her from people like that...

He looked away, knowing I understood as guilt filled his eyes. “Their daddy had to watch while these guys, they..." he looked up at me. "And they didn't even kill him afterwards. They just... They just made him watch as his daughters..." he stammered. "They just left him there. No, but... But I didn't touch those girls. I swear..."

I stepped forward, kicking him in the guts with a grunt. I didn't want to hear anymore. I didn't want to listen to the things he said and picture Vic being the one they touched.

"Please. Please. You gotta believe me, man. I'm not like that. I ain't like that. Please." he begged. "Please, you gotta believe me."

Groaning I kicked him again...

**VPOV**

I rolled over in bed, expecting Daryl to be lying next to me. But when I felt an empty spot my eyes shot open as I sat up out of bed. He was gone, his crossbow gone too.

I quickly threw on the first thing I grabbed out of my bag- which was a pair of faded denim shorts and a white tank top. I ran my brush through my hair a few times, letting it fall around me. Throwing on my army boots and grabbing my knife I left the tent.

As I neared the camp I noticed my dad and Shane were standing around with the others, though Daryl wasn't there.

I smiled, running up to them. As much as I thought leaving Randall out there alone was cruel, I knew it was better than killing him. So, seeing my dad, back and safe, it made everything okay. Over a little ways a way I could see Daryl walking off, but I would get to him in a minute. Right now, I wanted to talk to my dad.

"No one goes near this guy." I heard him tell everyone, stopping me in my tracks.

Mum walked up to dad. "Rick, what are you gonna do?"

Dale's eyes met mine as I looked over the group and I realised then that yesterday had failed. Randall was still with us...

"We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat." dad spoke to everyone. There were no questions about it. It wasn't up for debate. That was his finally decision.

"You're just gonna kill him? He's a living being. A person. He's just like us, in this world that turned on him." all eyes turned to me. All except my dad's.

"It's settled. I'll do it today." he walked away, not even bothering to look at me.

Shane stepped to me. "You don't understand what happened."

I glared at him. "Trust me I understand." he got in dad's head. He convinced him it was the right thing to do. That killing Randall was the only option.

"This is the way we survive." he took a step closer.

I took two steps back. "I don't just want to survive anymore. I want to live." I snapped at him before storming off.

There was no way I was going to stand around and listen to people tell me the way he should be killed. I didn't want to know what they thought. And as I walked off I realised the group was broken, and no matter what I thought or said it didn't matter.

So, I decided not to care anymore. If they wanted to kill a helpless human being, I wasn't going to tell them otherwise... but I was going to try and help the kid before they got to him... I just had to pick the right time.

 

...

 

I climbed up the side of the shed to get to the window. Andrea was guarding the door, so this was the only way to get in. I heard Shane and Carl talking, heading this way, so I tried to be as quiet as possible.

"What are you doing up there?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Looking down at the ground I saw Carl with his feet on the ladder ready to climb up. Grinning I answered. "The same thing you were gonna do even if I wasn't here."

He shrugged, climbing up. "I wanna see him. He doesn't seem dangerous to me."

I nodded, stepping through the window, keeping quiet now. I didn't want Randall to blow our cover if he heard us.

We sat down, watching him, the movement causing some dust to move around, which caught Randall's attention.

He smiled up at us. "Hey."

I looked at Carl who had a straight face, not saying a thing. I stood, heading down another ladder so I could stand near Randall. "Hi."

He smiled at me before looking at Carl. "That's a sweet hat." he was trying to show the kid that he was harmless. "I'm Randall. What's your name?"

Carl just sat there, facial expression unwavering. "He's a little cautious of ya. Don't mind him." I shrugged.

Randall nodded, turning back to me. "He your brother? You look alike. You look like the sheriff guy too. He your dad?"

"Remember what I said. No info. Sorry."

He shrugged. "I get it." he nodded, smiling. "I like your dad. He's a god guy. Your mum out here too? You're lucky you still got each other. I lost everyone."

I looked up at Carl who was watching Randall like an experiment, analysing the guy. I found it funny, how a little boy held more power than an adult... though when you think about the circumstances it doesn't seem as funny anymore.

"Hey, I don't know what people been saying about me, but I didn't do nothin' I swear." he watched Carl too as my brother came down to stand by me. "Your dad was gonna let me go till his friend started fighting with him. It got pretty bad. I was kinda worried."

It didn't surprise me that they fought. I had, had a feeling something was going to happen on their little trip. Dad had insisted Shane go with him, and after the talk he had with me, I knew I was going to be brought up. And well when it comes to Shane, I'm a sore subject to bring up...

"My camp, we got lots of supplies." Randall was still going on. "You help me, I'll take you and your folks back to my people. We'll take good care of you. Keep you safe. Just gotta... Just gotta help me get out of here, okay? Just help me pick these locks or find the key, okay? Come on, please? Please?"

The door opened as Shane came in, Andrea close behind, and he was pissed.

"What the hell you doing in here?" he grabbed Carl and moved him to Andrea who took him out. He held me behind him, turning to Randall. "What did you say to them? What did you say, huh?!" yelled, pulling out his gun and grabbing Randall by the throat. He held him against the wall, gun pointing at his face.

"Shane, stop. Don't." I stood next to Randall, trying to get between them.

He pressed the gun on his mouth. "Open you mouth. Open you mouth."

"Shane. Back off!"

But he kept ignoring me. "You like talking, man? You like talking?!"

I grabbed his hand with the gun and pushed him back, pressing my hands against his chest as I walked him away from Randall. "Shane look at me." his eyes darted to mine, rage pulsing through him. "Please, leave him. Just go."

His eyes went back to Randall for a moment before finding mine again. He grabbed my hand, leading us to the door. "Let's go."

I looked back over at Randall, who watched me go. Hope washing off his face as I disappeared.

Shane pushed me slightly and I stumbled a little before gaining my balance and turning to look at him. He looked at me, angry and frustrated.

"What you did there," he gestured to the shed. "That was stupid. Bringing your brother? That was reckless."

"I can handle myself Shane."

He stepped forward, grabbing my arm gently and looking at me with worry. "You could have gotten hurt." I looked away from his gaze, not saying a word. "He's dangerous. Stepping in between us, that could have gotten you killed. Next time let me do it."

My eyes snapped to his, scrutinizing him. "What? Kill him?"

He just shook his head and stepped back. "Go back to Daryl, Vickie. And stay there till we deal with it." he called as he walked away.

**Bamby**


	25. Talk

**VPOV**

I sat by Daryl cutting up some veggies for dinner while he worked on his crossbow and arrows. There was a noise nearing us, and we both looked to see Dale heading towards us.

Daryl scoffed. "The whole point of us comin' up here is to get away from you people."

"Gonna take more than that." Dale threw a stick he had been holding.

Daryl didn't even look up at the old man, saying nothing. So, I spoke up. "Someone send you?"

Since Shane found me in the barn with Carl, I had decided to stick with Daryl. He had no clue I had been in the shed, and I wanted it to stay that way. I was also tired of all the drama. After seeing Shane with Randall, and hearing my dad make his decision, I wasn't planning on being with the group anytime soon.

"There are a lot of people who are concerned about the two of you." he answered before turning to Daryl. "We don't think it's good for you being out here. And a lot of us are worried about your new role in the group." Daryl just looked at him for a moment before going back to what he was doing.

"What new role?" I looked between the two men.

Daryl stepped away from his crossbow then. "Don't come over here saying stuff when it's none of your business, old man. Just leave us alone." he snapped. "This groups broken. We're better off by ourselves."

"You act like you don't care anymore. About the group. About anything."

Daryl moved to me and I handed him his jacket as he kept talking to Dale. As he grabbed the jacket I saw his hands. They were bloody and bruised...

"Yeah, it's 'cause I don't." he threw the jacket on. "All I care about is surviving and staying with Vic."

"So live or die, you don't care what happens to Randall? Either of you?" Dale looked over at me.

"Nope." Daryl's simple answer wasn't hesitated at all.

"Victoria? What about you."

I looked away from Dale, knowing he could read me like a book. I wanted to help Randall, but I honestly believed it was a lost cause... "There's nothing I can do Dale."

"Why not stand with me, try to save the kid's life, if it really doesn't matter, or if you don't know what to do."

"Didn't peg you for a desperate son o' a bitch." Daryl commented.

"Your opinion makes a difference. Both of you."

It was my turn to scoff. "No one cares what we think. We're the outsiders."

"Carol cares, and I do. Right now. And you obviously have Rick's ear. Being his daughter."

I shook my head, Daryl stood by me helping me to my feet. We were getting ready to go hunting and he wanted to go now. "Dad's made his mind up. He won't change it."

"Especially now that he has Shane talking in his ear. He'll do anything that guy says. Let him." Daryl added, though I didn't really think that was true. "Come on." he tugged on my arm and we started to head off.

"You cared about what happened to Sophia, Daryl. And you care about your family, Victoria. You care about the group." Daryl stopped and I looked up at him to see what he wanted to do. He turned to look at Dale again. "Torturing people? That isn't you."

I stopped in my tracks as reality hit me. Cut up and bruised hands. Randall's swollen and messed up face. Daryl gone this morning...

"You're a decent man. So is Rick." Dale kept going. "Shane, he's different."

"Why's that? 'Cause he killed Otis?" Daryl didn't seem to notice as I watched him, wondering why he would do that to Randall...

"He tell you that?" Dale stepped closer.

"He told some story. How Otis covered him, saved his ass. He showed up with that dead guy's gun." Daryl explained. "Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out, it's 'cause he didn't wanna. It's like I said, group's broken." he turned once more, ready to go. But one look at me and he stopped.

"You tortured Randall. Beat him up." I nodded, speaking the words I had been thinking. "You snuck out while I was asleep, because you knew I wouldn't have let you do it. You stood in that shed and you beat him till he talked. You kicked him, and punched him. You left him bloody and bruised, and in pain... and then you walked away, keeping your distance till your hands were a little better so I wouldn't question it."

He took a step closer to me, but I shook my head, storming past him. As I got closer to Dale I stopped. "I'll think about it." I told him before walking away, needing to be alone.

 

...

 

I spent the day walking around the farm. Watching people as I stood off in the distance. Dad and Carl talking. Carol and mum talking. Dale going from person to person. Dale and Shane talking.

Daryl didn't come back, not until it was time for everyone to gather around to hear what dad had to say. By then I decided I should head over to the house.

Daryl stood off behind my dad, keeping to himself. Part of me wanted to stand with him, where I belonged. But instead I stood next to Dale.

I knew what I was going to do. Keep my mouth shut until I knew it was time for me to talk. I still didn't know what I would be saying, or who's side I was on. All I knew was that things were gonna get ugly...

"So how do we do this? Just take a vote?" Glenn spoke up first.

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked.

"How about majority rules?" mum turned to dad.

Dad stepped forward, getting into action. "Well, let's... let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options."

Of course, Shane went first. I rolled my eyes listening. "Well, the way I see it, there's only one way to move forward."

"Killing him, right? I mean, why even bother to take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing." Dale seemed disappointed, and it was obvious then that he had filed to change people's minds.

"Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know." dad told him.

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group. Maybe just me and Glenn." Dale shrugged.

I looked down at Glenn who looked guilty. "Look, I... I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this..."

"They've got you scared."

"He's not one of us." Glenn argued. "And we've... we've lost too many people already."

"How about you?" Dale gestured to Maggie. "Do you agree with this?"

"Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?" she asked dad.

"Just another mouth to feed." I was not expecting Daryl to speak up.

"It may be a lean winter." Hershel noted.

"We could ration better." mum suggested.

"Or he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself." Dale was not going to let this go, and I thought that maybe I should say something.

"Put him to work?" Glenn brought the attention back on my dad.

But he wasn't having a bar of it. "We're not letting him walk around."

"We could put an escort on him." Maggie really didn't want us to kill him.

"Who wants to volunteer for that duty?" Shane was just being a smart ass...

"I will." Dale answered.

Dad shook his head. "I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."

"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." mum added.

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labour." I realised then that Andrea was unsure as well. She didn't know where she stood, but she thought he was dangerous.

"Look," Shane stepped forward, "say we let him join us, right? Maybe... maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back 30 men."

"That's a lot of maybe's." I spoke up for the first time and all eyes landed on me. "That's like saying, so maybe we let him help out. Maybe we trust him. We let our guard down and maybe he stays. There’s no sure way of knowing what he'll do."

Dale nodded. "So, your answer," he spoke to Shane, "is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt? If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilisation."

"Oh my, God." Shane sighed.

"Could you drive him further out?" Hershel asked. "Leave him like you planned?"

But mum shut that down. “You barely came back this time."

"I'll go then." I told them. "If you're all worried about gettin' hurt, I'll go. Because unlike the lot of you, I know I can handle a tied up, injured boy."

Both mum and dad shook their heads. "There are walkers out there. You could break down." mum was not letting this one go. "You could get lost..."

"Or ambushed. No, there's no way you're going." Daryl added. I looked over at him, seeing him watch me carefully. He was not liking what I had to say.

"They're right." Glenn turned to me. "None of us should have to be put at risk."

"If you go through with it, how will you do it?" Patricia asked, and suddenly that was the only thing on everyone's minds. "Would he suffer?"

Dad looked to Shane who answered. "We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck."

Dad nodded. "I thought about it. Shooting may be more humane."

"What about the body? Do we bury it?" T-Dog asked.

"Hold on, hold on. You're talking about this like it's already decided." Dale stopped everyone from going on.

"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl was getting impatient.

I snapped. "This is a human's life. A boy. And it is worth more than a little chit chat! Is this what it's come to? We kill because we can't trust? We don't know what to do so let's just hang him up and let him swing!" I shook my head.

"You saved him, and now look at us." Dale went on before I got too upset. "He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?"

Everyone fell into silence as they looked from one person to another...

But Shane wasn't gonna let it go that easily. "We all know what needs to be done."

"No," dad shook his head. "Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility-"

"So, what's the solution?" Andrea interrupted.

Mum cut in on Andrea. "Let Rick finish."

Yet Andrea went on. "We haven't come up with a single viable option yet. I wish we could."

"So, let's work on it!" Dale yelled over her.

"We are." dad insisted.

"Stop it." we all looked to Carol. "Just stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decided something like decided, either of you, both of you, but leave me out."

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself, there's no difference." Dale told her.

"All right, that's enough." dad was getting tired of all of this. "Anybody wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance."

There was a long pause, people sitting down and looking away. No one was gonna speak up. No one was gonna fight... except for Dale.

"You once said that we don't kill the living."

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us."

I scoffed. "Hold on, let me get this straight. You were in a bar with two strangers. They drew on you, yet you had time to kill both. And when their men came along, they tried to kill you, left their man behind and you brought him back here, tortured him and are not contemplating execution... is that right?"

Glenn nodded. "Yeah, but-"

"So, what if you were the men outside? What if it was Shane, Daryl and T-Dog that were outside and those two men were the ones that shot you and survived. Would you believe them if they said, 'your men drew first, but hey now they're dead and we wanna go home'?" I looked around the group.

Shane shook his head. "But-"

"No. Okay I don't want to hear any excuses, because that's what could have happened. And it could have been you locked up in a shed beaten to a bloody pulp and then had to wait till your captures either let you go or killed you."

Dale went on, adding to what I said. "If we do this, the people that we were, the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. It's harsh. It's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in. And I don't believe that any of you do. I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right."

Once again, we were met with silence. Everyone looked away from Dale and me. No one was going stand with us.

"He's right." I did not expect Andrea to say that. "We should try and find another way."

"Anybody else?" dad looked around the group, but this time no one was going to change their mind.

Dad looked at me, his eyes sorry. I just smiled, though it wasn't a happy smile it was more aggravated then anything. "So, I guess we'll all be there to watch then too. I mean, that's the right thing to do, right? We all vote and then we come together to see it through. No, you'll all go off and do your thing, ignoring the fact that we're all murderers now.

"You're gonna say what you think, tell my dad what he should do and leave it to him. This man does everything around here, everything your all not willing to do. And that's unfair. Leaving him to  _kill_ someone." I shook my head. "If you're gonna vote for the kill, you should watch it too."

I walked away then, past my dad, my mum and Daryl. I didn't look up at any of them, because at that moment I didn't know who these people were.

**Bamby**


	26. Sorry Brother

**VPOV**

I watched as dad, Shane and Daryl took Randall to the barn. Looking over at the camp and house I could see no one else bothering to follow. I had been right. I knew they weren't going to watch, and I still felt that they were all in the wrong by ignoring it.

I followed, keeping quiet and watching.

Daryl held Randall by his shirt as the boy struggled. "Hold on. Hold on. Hold on." but no one listened to him.

When they walked into the barn, I turned around. I turned and I walked. I didn't want to see them kill him, I had just wanted to know who was going to be there. Now that I knew, all I wanted was to walk until my legs hurt.

**RPOV**

I looked at Carl as Daryl took Randall away. I couldn't believe it. He had wanted me to. He stood there, telling me to shoot another person...

"Come on." I walked up to him gesturing for him to follow.

We walked to camp in silence as I thought about how he wanted me to kill another human being. I realised then that it was the wrong thing to do.

Victoria had stood there and tried to get me to understand, but I had shut her down. Now I had one child that wanted me to kill, and another that wanted nothing to do with the group... I felt like I was failing as a parent.

As we got to the camp everyone looked up at Carl and I. Lori walked over to us, her eyes questioning why Carl was with me.

"We're keeping him in custody for now." I told everybody else’s questioning gazes.

Andrea stood, smiling. "I'm gonna find Dale and Victoria." she said before walking off.

Lori looked at me and I knew there was a serious talk coming. "Carl, go inside. Now, please." he walked off into the tent.

I stepped closer to her, ready to explain. "He followed us. He wanted to watch. I couldn't."

"That's okay. That's okay." she reassured me.

"Vickie was right. Killing him like that, it's wrong."

She nodded. "I know. I just wish we had seen that before."

I pulled her into a hug. "We should apologize to her... and Dale. We didn't give them enough of a chance to talk. We should have listened."

"Well now we can." she held me close. "We have time now. We'll listen to them."

**DPOV**

I threw Randall to the ground, chaining him up again.

The boy cried. "Let me go. Please. I won't come back. I promise."

I stepped back, and removed his blindfold. "Shut up."

"Let me talk to that girl. The nice one. She'll tell you. She trusts me." he begged.

I glared at him. "What girl?"

"Victoria. The sheriff’s daughter. She knows. She knows I won't hurt you guys."

I stepped forward and threw a single punch to his face. "If I find out you talk to her again, I'll kill you on the spot. You leave her alone, you hear me?" I snarled at him, grabbing his shirt. "You hear me?!"

He nodded frantically. "Yes, yes. I'm sorry."

I let him go and walked out, slamming the door behind me.

**VPOV**

I saw Dale walking through the fields too, so I rushed over to him to see if he was okay.

"Dale."

He jumped and turned, relief washing over his face when he saw it was just me. "You scared the living hell out of me."

I shrugged. "Sorry, just wanted to check up on ya. Make sure you're okay."

He groaned. "As good as I'll ever be. But thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, I was just being friendly."

He shook his head. "I mean thank you for standing with me, and fighting for that boy's life. You had to stand up to the people you love and that must have been hard."

I shrugged again. "Not when they're wrong-"

In the distance we heard a groaning, it sounded like a cow in pain or something. We stopped and I held out my arm, stopping Dale from moving any closer to it.

"You stay here, I'll check it out." I told him, walking forward.

Not too far from where we had been standing I saw a cow lying on the ground its insides pouring out of its stomach were a walker must have ripped it open. I gaged at it, pulling out my knife to put it out of its misery. As I knelt I heard a twig snap.

Spinning to check what it was it was too late. "Dale!"

He screamed as the walker pushed him to the ground.

"Dale!"

I ran to him, throwing the walker off him but it was too late. It had already ripped into his stomach. He was bleeding to death. "Dale." I cried, sitting there looking at him as I tried to think of a way to help him.

"Vic-" he didn't get to finish before I was pushed to the ground, the walker snapping and snarling on top of me.

I realised then that I had dropped my knife by Dale and I had no gun. I was going to die...

**DPOV**

I was heading back to my camp. I knew Victoria was mad at me, and I honestly thought I'd find her sitting in our tent, the door closed and her back facing the entrance. But as I walked to the tent I saw it empty, the door wide open.

"Vic?" I called out. When there was no answer I just gathered she was staying in the RV away from everyone that had shut her and Dale out.

As I went to take my jacket off getting ready to go to bed I suddenly heard a scream. It sounded like Dale, and he was in trouble.

I quickly slipped my arm through the jacket and pulled it back on before I ran off in the direction of the scream.

"Dale!" that was Vic, and it sounded like she was...

There was an ear piercing scream the ran through the fields. That scream, my stomach turned. It was Victoria...

"Victoria?!"

**RPOV**

Lori and I sat by the fire talking about how we were going to explain everything to Victoria. Our conversation was stopped by a scream.

"That was Dale." Carol stood as we all turned in the direction the scream came from.

Suddenly there was another scream, though it wasn't Dale's it was...

"Victoria?" Lori shot of her feet.

I stood. "Get Carl."

She turned to him as he ran out of the tent. "What happened? Where's Vickie?"

"Come here. Come here. Come here." she repeated to him.

"T-Dog, get a shotgun now!" I called as I headed for the screams.

I ran to the gate before kicking it open. "Vickie! Where are you?" but all I got were screams.

**VPOV**

The walker snapped its jaws as it tried to bite me, pushing against my arms that felt like jelly by now. I struggled underneath it crying and screaming hoping someone would come help.

"Dale! Victoria!" Andrea was close but I could tell she wasn't close enough and as time went by the monster got closer and closer to biting me.

The walker was thrown off me as Daryl barged into it. With a quick stab to the head he killed it before running to me.

"You okay?" he fell to his knees about to check me when I threw my arms around him sobbing. He held me closer.

I pushed him away, remembering Dale before crawling over to him, too worn out to stand. "Dale." I cried holding his hand. "Help!"

"Over here!" Daryl yelled out for everyone.

"Where? Where?"

"Daryl!?"

"Vickie!"

Everyone was heading our way.

I sat next to Dale my vision blurred from my tear-filled eyes. "Hold on. Don't you die on me." but he just lay there, blood coming out of his mouth as he groaned in pain.

By now everyone was here. My dad knelt on the other side of Dale. "All right, just listen to my voice. Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me. All right? Okay hold on now." he told him holding his face gently.

"Dad." I cried looking up at him as I held Dale's hand.

He nodded and stood. "Get Hershel! He needs blood. We got to operate now."

Andrea fell to where dad had been. "Hang on, Dale. Hand on."

Mum and Glenn joined us now. She walked to me, helping me up. "Are you alright? Are you bit?" she looked over my body for marks.

I struggled against her, crying. "Help him." I begged, I could feel myself slowly finding it hard to breath as I looked down at Dale, his stomach ripped open, blood everywhere.

"Vickie, you gotta breath sweetie. Come on." my tried to soothe me, trying to turn me away.

Hershel ran up to us, dad turning to him right away. "Can you help him?"

"I'm afraid not." he shook his head looking down at Dale.

I fell to the ground, the loudest sob coming from me. "No! Please! Help him, please!" I cried.

"No." dad screamed.

"Please. Please." I begged over and over weeping on the ground as I held Dale's hand. He looked up at me and all I saw was pain. He groaned and gasped.

"He's suffering." I looked at Andrea who still knelt by him. "Do something!"

I looked up and saw my dad aiming the gun to Dale's head. He looked at me for a moment, his eyes already sorry and grieving and I knew they mirrored mine. But as he looked away, turning his eyes to Dale I knew then he couldn't do it. His hands shaking as he looked into the dying man's eyes.

Daryl stepped to my dad and took the gun. He didn't look at me. He just knelt, the gun pointing at Dale's head.

"Sorry brother." he pulled the trigger.

**Bamby**


	27. Full Weight of Grief

**VPOV**

I hadn't spoken a word since last night. I was a shell. As the bullet shot out of the gun my tears slowly died away before my body shut down completely.

Dad carried me to the house, Hershel was worried that I might have been hurt or something. So, they put me in the room I had been in when I got shot, before checking me over. But I just laid there, letting them check my body for bites or scratches, or anything. They tried to get me to talk, but I just looked straight ahead unblinking, unmoving.

By the morning time I was moving at least. I hadn't slept, every time I closed my eyes I saw Dale lying on the ground dying, that walker's face imprinted on my mind.

I walked out of the house without anyone seeing me. I just headed for the graves where I knew there was going to be a funeral for Dale today. I didn't want to sleep or talk or work. I wanted to wait. Sit and wait. 'Cause that's all there was to do now...

 

...

 

"Victoria?" Maggie knelt in front of me. "I was looking for you."

I just started at her, not moving from where I sat- next to Sophia's grave.

She looked down at me her eyes scanning my body getting more worried by the second. "You're shaking. You should eat something." when I just blinked she went on. "I can get you something? If you wanna stay here I'll go make you something and bring it here. How's that sound?"

Still no answer.

She stood and sighed. "I'll be back, okay? I'll get you some breakfast." she said before walking off.

It didn't take long before someone else came around. This time it was my dad and Hershel.

Dad crouched in front of me like Maggie had his eyes looking worried as well. "Vickie?"

"She needs to eat Rick. Her body's not getting what it needs and she'll just get worse." the vet told him.

"I know." dad sighed, grabbing my hand he tried again. "Vickie?"

I just blinked. It's not that I didn't want to talk, it's just that I didn't know how to anymore. I wasn't trying to be rude of mean, I was just a shell now.

"Maybe Daryl can help?" Hershel suggested.

Dad nodded, standing up. "I'll go get him. Can you stay with her?" I didn't see Hershel shake his head or nod. I just kept looking forwards waiting for the funeral.

There was a long silence, but I was sure Hershel was still standing by, watching me. I didn't know how long it took before Daryl was suddenly crouched in front of me.

"You gotta eat something." he grabbed my hand gently, trying to get me to look at him. But I just looked dead ahead. "Vic, talk to me."

"We should move her to the house." Hershel told him.

Daryl nodded as he stood before reaching down to grab me and pick me up. "Come on." he knelt down his hands resting on my waist.

I struggled against him. "No!"

The word echoed and Daryl stopped.

"Victoria, we need to get you to the house. Your body is in shock. It needs rest." Hershel stood forward moving to help me up.

"Don't touch her." all three of them, Daryl, dad and Hershel turned to look at Maggie as she walked towards us. "She doesn't want to move. Don't touch her or she'll struggle and hurt herself."

They all stepped back, watching as she knelt in front of me, a tray in her hands.

She smiled at me. "Got you some more tea and some toast."

For the first time I actually looked at something, my eyes scanning the food. Maggie shifted so the tray rested on the floor between us while she sat. She had cut up the toast into little bit size pieces and made the tea steaming hot just the way I liked it.

Reaching down I grabbed a piece of toast, moving slowly as my hand shook. I brought it to my lips, the smell of melted butter filling my nostrils. Before I knew it, I popped it into my mouth and started chewing, without even realizing.

Maggie smiled at me before turning to the men. "You lot should start working on getting the funeral started. She's not moving till it's done." and with those final demands all three off them set off.

But Maggie stayed, sitting by me as I slowly had my tea. She didn't ask me questions or try and make me move. She just sat and waited; and it was nice.

 

...

 

"Dale could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt." we all stood around the graves as we listened to my dad.

"That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us, the truth, who we really are.

"In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honour him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety... our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong.

"From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honour Dale."

I stepped back and walked over to Shane who was getting into his truck. Andrea, T-Dog and Daryl were going with him around the farm to check the fences and clear any walkers, and at that moment I felt like I needed to kill something.

"I'm going with you."

He looked over at me from the door of the truck. He looked surprised that I was there but even more shocked that I had spoken. "You're what?"

I stopped in front of him, barely two steps between us. "I'm going with you. And that's not me asking you, it's me telling."

"Vickie, I don't think that's a good idea. You've been a mess since last night. Doing something reckless right now is worse."

I shrugged. "Did I ask for your opinion? No." I walked around the truck and got into the passenger side, slamming the door.

He got in and looked over at me. "Alright then." he sighed starting the truck and taking it around to the camp.

When we got there the others were already waiting for us. Daryl took one look at me and stormed over to my door. Opening it he gestured for me to get out. "You're not coming."

I just looked forward, having said what I needed to and falling back into silence.

"Look, man, I tried to talk her out of it. She ain't gonna listen. So, let's go." Shane told him impatiently.

Daryl grunted, glaring at me before slamming the door and jumping in the back with the others. There was nothing for me to say to him and there was nothing he could do to stop me from coming along.

 

...

 

As we drove along I could feel Shane looking over at me every now and then. It got to the point where I just turned and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

"You know it's not your fault. Sophia, Dale. None of it's your fault." I just stared at him and he sighed. "Look, I just want you to know I'm here for you." he drove up a hill.

There were walkers feeding on a cow by the swamp.

Shane stopped the car as the others jumped of the back. I got out, my knife ready, while they had big weapons and guns.

There was a girl, she was about my age, long brown hair. I saw a lot of myself in her... what I could be.

I walked up to her and shoved my knife into her eye, watching her as she fell to the ground. I knelt down on top of her ramming my knife into her face over and over until it caved in and she no longer resembled a human, and then stabbed her some more.

**DPOV**

I hated the fact that Victoria was coming with us to check the fences. I knew we were going to run into walkers, and I didn't want her in anymore danger. She had already been through enough.

Stuck on my truck when the walkers invaded our camp outside of Atlanta. Fighting off Shane at the CDC. Being chased after walkers with Sophia. Getting shot while looking for Sophia. Walkers attacking her in the woods. Shooting Sophia. Getting in a car accident. Attacked by another walker. Loosing Dale.

I know everyone had been through a lot as well, but it was different... because I loved her.

The car stopped, T-Dog and Andrea jumped out and I followed suit. Shane had stopped us near a little herd of walkers eating a cow. I got my crossbow ready and shot before getting into the rest.

When the last one was finished I looked around and saw Victoria standing over a walker whose face was caved in and messed up from all the stabbing Vic had done.

I walked over to her and helped her up to her feet as she just stared at the thing. "Come on. Let's get you home." I helped her on to the back of the truck before sliding in.

T-Dog joined us as the other two got in. Victoria sat close to me, her eyes wide her face blank. It scared me to think that the girl, the woman, that I love was now nothing but a shell.

**VPOV**

I sat on the edge of the truck, Daryl standing in front of me watching as I just sat there.

"Gonna be tight, fourteen people in one house." dad and Hershel were discussing the possibility of everyone moving to the house.

"Don't worry about that." the farmer insisted. "With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up..."

"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell." Maggie finished.

"She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago." Hershel finished

"Come on." Daryl grabbed my hand. I got of the truck, my moves automatic, as I followed him. He stopped by my dad as he waited for an order.

"All right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out towards the road. We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn left. That should give us sightlines both sides of the property." everybody started moving as dad called out instructions. "T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going."

"What about standing guard?"

"I need you and Daryl on double duty."

"Gotcha." T-Dog nodded before walking off.

"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be." Hershel walked past, talking to dad.

"What about patrols?" Andrea stood nearby.

"Let's get this area locked down first." dad knew what he wanted and how he wanted it done. "After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose."

Now that he knew what he had to do, Daryl headed off still holding my hand. "When your dad and I go, I want you staying at the house. Stay with Maggie, Glenn or your mum. But just don't leave the house."

**Bamby**


	28. Broken Hearts and Noses

**VPOV**

Daryl was with dad figuring out where they were going to go and what they were gonna do. I had decided to go help Maggie set up the house so we could all fit in there. We set up sleeping bags, and organised the bags and things so they were out of the way but easy to get to.

"My dad said you can have the spare room." she said as we stacked the bags. "You're still in shock. You need proper rest. And you'll only get that if you're in a proper bed." she shrugged.

The front door creaked open as Daryl came in and headed for the bathroom. I watched him as he disappeared.

"Everything he does, he does to protect you. If you weren't here I don't think he would have stuck around this whole time." Maggie's hand rested on mine. "I know the two of you have had troubles with everything that's been happening. But whatever it is that's keeping you closed up, you should just let it go and talk to him."

The bathroom door opened and his eyes locked on to mine. He nodded, knowing I wanted to talk and headed out the front, me following.

He stopped on the porch and turned to me. "You okay?"

I shook my head. "I don't want you going. I don't want either of you going. I don't want you torturing people. I don't want you sending people to their deaths. I don't want you putting yourself in danger. I want you here with me so I know you're safe."

He shook his head. "I don' want you near Randall. I don' want you walkin' off. But you still do. You put yourself in danger over and over and I save you. I'm over it. You don' want me goin', too bad. I'm doin' what’s right. You don' like it, leave."

My jaw dropped. I had not expected this to happen. I thought we were going to talk and then be done with all the tension that had been between us. But break up.

"Are you serious? You're just gonna walk away like that."

He nodded and turned. "I'm done." he called over his shoulder before he walked away...

**DPOV**

I was tired. I was tired of everyone expecting things from me. I was tired of doing all the dirty jobs. I was tired of having to worry about Victoria all the time. I was tired.

As I walked away, it hurt. I loved her. But she had to understand that I couldn't leave all the work for everyone else to do. Leaving her like that was the last thing I expected to do. I had thought we were gonna say our goodbyes, a last-minute kiss or something, and then I'd go knowing she'd still be here when I got back.

But as I walked away and I continued to hurt, I knew this was probably the best thing. This way she would stay with the group, Maggie would keep her busy, and she'd be out of danger.

**VPOV**

I ran to a nearby tree and felt everything come up before I chucked. My mouth filled with a gross taste that almost made me throw up again.

My eyes were filled with tears and as I walked away from the tree I found my sight getting worse and worse by the second. My stomach continued to turn, my body shook, my head spun and my legs wobbled.

"Vickie?"

I bumped into someone's chest, their hands holding my arms so I wouldn't fall. I felt my body shake as I struggled against them.

"Vickie." I recognized the voice then. It was Shane. "What happened? Are you hurt?" he searched my body for marks as he held me gently.

I shook my head. "D-Daryl- he. He l-left me." I sobbed.

Shane pulled me into his arms, holding me close. "It's okay. You'll be okay." he soothed.

I choked on a sob. "Shane?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything. I know it hurt you, when I shut you out. But I couldn't... I just couldn't trust you then. I was willing to think about it and let it go. I loved you so much. There's no point on denying that." I sobbed. "And what I did was really unfair. So, I'm sorry."

He held me tighter. "You don't need to apologise."

I nodded. "But I do. Because now you and my dad are at odds. My mum doesn't like you. And if I hadn't of shut you out, if I had tried to understand, then half the things that have happened wouldn't have."

"What about Daryl?"

I sighed, wiping my tears. "Why should I hold on to someone who doesn't love me?"

**RPOV**

I walked over to the truck where Daryl and T-Dog stood. They were getting everything ready for the trip. We weren't sure how long we'd be gone for and we needed to be prepared.

"Ready?"

Daryl grabbed his cross-bow, moving to get in the truck. "Yeah." there was something off about him, something wrong.

"I'll get the package." T-Dog headed for the shed.

"Thanks." I called after him before turning to Daryl. "You gonna tell me what's going on?"

He shrugged. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw Vickie run off towards the horses. She looked pretty upset..." I tilted my head and gave him a pointed look.

"Had a fight. That's all."

I nodded. "What happened?"

"We're takin' a break." he answered so simply and carelessly like it was that simple. But that was my daughter, and he could act like it didn't matter, but it did.

"Rick!" T-Dog came running towards us. "Rick!"

"What is it?!"

"Randall. He's gone."

**DPOV**

I threw open the shed door, and like T-Dog said, no Randall. Andrea, Rick, T-Dog, Glenn and I got together, ready to track the kid.

"What happened?" Lori ran up to us with the others behind.

"Randall's missing." Glenn answered.

With that answer everyone started to panic. But I was too busy trying to see Vic. The moment I heard Randall was missing I started to worry. He knew he. He liked her. And Rick had said she ran off by herself to the horses. So where was she now?

"Rick! Rick!" Shane came out from behind the trees.

"What happened?" Lori called out to him.

He looked pretty bad, his nose broken and blood everywhere. "He's armed! He's got my gun! Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face."

That put Rick into action. "All right, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, come with us." everybody started moving, doing what Rick said.

I walked over to Maggie, grabbing her arm. "Victoria's not here. You gotta find her." she nodded and I let go, moving with Rick, Shane and Glenn.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane moved to the group.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol looked worried about us going out there.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick was pissed.

"Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen." Carol called to us as we all walked towards the woods.

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" that's all Rick had to say.

I watched as they all headed for the house, and honestly it was the first time I considered not doing what Rick needed me to do. All I cared about was getting to Vic and making sure she was safe.

**VPOV**

I was riding around the farm on one of the horses, staying away from everyone. I didn't want them to see me a wreck... again. I felt like all I did was cry and I was getting tired of it.

I rode the horse into the woods, just wandering around. It didn't take long for it to get dark, but I still stayed out. I didn't feel like going back anytime soon; and as long as I had the horse and my gun, I was safe... well in theory.

A twig snapped behind me and I grabbed my gun, ready to shoot. But it wasn't a walker.

"What the hell are you doing out here Carl?" I sighed as he moved towards the horse.

He looked up at me. "Don't you know? Randall's missing. Dad, Shane, Glenn and Daryl are out looking for him. He has a gun..."

"He what?"

He just shrugged. "He got out and then attacked Shane. Grabbed his gun and now he's loose."

Something felt off about that story. An injured boy got the jump on a trained police officer? Now he was out there with my dad, my ex and my best friend's boyfriend.

I glared down at my brother, scrutinizing him. "So why are you out here?"

"They've been gone for a few hours. I got worried."

Sighing I reached down. "Come on, get up." I said before he grabbed my hand and I pulled him up to sit behind me. "Hold on tight." and with that we rode off.

**RPOV**

Shane and I walked around, looking for Randall. But the long we walked the worse this all seemed. We were alone, in the dark, armed and dangerous. We still hadn't worked out our issues when it came to Vickie and knew he wanted me gone.

We came to a clearing, me walking in front. I didn't like having him behind me, it left me feeling more uneasy.

We were talking, but only so I could figure him out. But the way he spoke was like he was nervous trying to keep his story straight, and that's all it took for me to stop and fully understand.

Putting my gun away I decided to just call him out. "So, this is where you plan to do it?"

"It's as good place as any."

"At least have the balls to call this what it is... murder." I turned to him as he got T-Dog's gun out. "You really believe if you walk back on to that farm alone, no me, no Randall..."

"I want you to hush up."

"You really believe they're gonna buy whatever bullshit story you cook up?" I circled him.

"That's just it. It ain't no story. I saw that prisoner shoot you down. I ran after him. I snapped his neck. It ain't gonna be easy, but Lori, Vickie and Carl, they'll get over you. They done it before. They just gonna have to." he raised his gun.

"Why? Why now? I thought we worked this all out."

"We tried to kill each other, man. What you think? We just gonna forget about it all? We gonna ride off into the sunset together?"

"You're gonna kill me in cold blood? Screw my daughter? Take care of my children? Protect my wife? Is that what you want? That life won't be worth a damn. I know you. You won't be able to live with this."

"What you know about what I can live with? You got no idea what I can live with, what I live with! You wanna talk about what I can do, Rick? How about what you can do? Here I am. Come on, man. Raise your gun."

"No." I shook my head. "No, I will not."

"What happened, Rick? I thought you weren't the good guy anymore. Ain't that what you said? Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna fight for 'em? I'm better for them, Rick. I'm better for Vickie, man. It's 'cause I'm a better man than you, Rick. because I can be here and I'll fight for her. But you come back here and you just destroy everything!"

"What about Daryl? You gonna kill him too?"

He laughed. "Don't need to. Broke her heart, and she came running back to me." he shrugged. "You got a broken daughter. A weak boy. A hopeless wife. You ain't got the first clue on how to fix it." He raised his gun once more. "Raise your gun."

"You're gonna have to kill an unarmed man." I reached for my gun. "Watch my hand. Nice and easy. Easy does it." I unhooked it, moving slowly before grabbing it and holding it out o he knew I wasn't going to use it. "Now listen to me, Shane. There is still a way back from this. Nothing has happened here.

"We're gonna lay down our guns and we're gonna walk back to the farm together. Back to Vickie. Back to Lori. Back to Carl." I kept moving closer to him and I was nearly able to reach him. "Put this all behind us."

He kept looking into my eyes, his hand reaching for my gun. As soon as he looked down I grabbed my knife and plunged it into his chest. The gun went off as he fell.

"Damn you for making me do this, Shane. You did this to us! This was you, not me! Not me!" I pulled the knife out. "Not me!"

I knelt over him, crying as he slowly died in front of me. He may have done horrible things but he was still my best friend. For years he was the one person who stuck by me and it hurt to know this was how it ended.

"Son of..." I wailed and sobbed, trying to pull myself together.

Standing I paced looking down at him. It was done. He was dead...

"Dad?"

"Daddy?"

**Bamby**


	29. Surrounded

**VPOV**

Carl and I heard a gunshot over by the fields and we rode off towards it, the gut wrenching feeling getting worse the closer we got.

I had not expected to see my dad kneeling over Shane's dead body blood everywhere...

"Dad." Carl cried out.

I looked forward, staring at my father. "Daddy?"

He looked up at us, standing up and moving towards us. "Carl. Vickie. You know... you should be back home with mum."

I looked at him and wasn't sure how to react. I knew he wouldn't do something like that for no reason, but I just couldn't understand why he had to kill him.

I grabbed my gun and raised it. "Carl, stay behind me." I told my brother who was on the ground now. He gasped and I was sure he saw what I saw.

Shane stood up, but he was no longer himself. Growling and groaning like those monster, moving towards us. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't shoot him...

"Just put the... put the gun down." dad thought I was aiming at him, and he honestly looked scared. "It's not what it seems. Please." the walker snarled and got closer to dad. I knew what I had to do.

The gun went off and the walker fell down.

Dad turned to look at it, shocked that I had done that. When he looked back at me he no longer looked scared as I let the gun fall beside me. Carl and dad walked over to the body that lay still and dead on the ground. But I just stayed there and stared at Shane's lifeless body, a million thoughts running through my mind...

**DPOV**

We walked into the house to where everyone was sitting around.

"Rick and Shane back?" I asked, walking through the group with Glenn behind me.

"No." Lori looked worried sick.

"We heard a shot." I told them.

"Maybe they found Randall." she shrugged.

I shook my head. "We found him."

"Is he back in the shed?"

"He's a walker."

Everyone shifted uneasily before Hershel asked, "Did you find the walker that bit him?"

"No, the weird thing is, he wasn't bit." Glenn informed them.

"His neck was broken." I added.

"So, he fought back." Patricia commented.

"The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together." I knew my tracks and there was no way I was wrong about this.

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and find out what on Earth is going on?" Lori walked up to me, pleading.

"You got it." I went to walk out.

"Thank you."

I stopped and looked over at Maggie. "Did you find Victoria?" everybody looked between us and I realised then that none of them had noticed she wasn't around.

"Vickie's missing?" Lori looked between us frantically.

Maggie shook her head. "I couldn't find her in the house, and one of the horses are missing."

"My daughter is out there?" Lori pressed her hand against her chest and started falling. I caught her, the other's moved to help her too but she just looked up at me. "You heard a shot Daryl."

She was right. If we found Randall, and heard a shot, someone out there got hit. And if Shane and Rick didn't know Vic's out there then they could have shot her.

**VPOV**

We had been walking in silence for a while now, heading back towards the house. I held the rains of the horse, petting her gently to sooth her and me.

Carl looked up at dad, he had been doing that a lot though this was the first time he spoke. "You bit, too?"

"No." there was something dad wasn't telling us.

"Shane was." Carl looked at the ground and I could tell he was trying to act strong.

I sighed. "That wasn't Shane, Carl. Not anymore."

He nodded. "But it used to be." he looked up at dad, waiting for him to say something. But then he was left with silence he just went on talking. "What happened? You guys attacked? I mean, we heard a gunshot, but I didn't see any walkers nearby." still no reply. "How did Shane die?"

Dad stopped and looked down at Carl, who stopped as well. He was about to tell him. He was going to explain it to us. I turned and watched, waiting, when my eyes saw something behind them.

"Oh my, God." I gasped.

Dad turned to me before looking the way I was. Heading towards us was the biggest herd of walkers I had ever seen...

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go." he grabbed Carl as he ushered us to move. We ran, trying to stay as low as possible. But with the horse that was difficult.

Hiding behind a tree dad stopped. "We gotta get to the house, tell the others." I told him. Carl nodded in agreement, our eyes darting around as we saw walkers everywhere.

"We'll never get through that. Can't go around." dad told us.

I shook my head getting on to the horse. "I'll go. You two get to safety."

"Vickie no." dad grabbed me. "If they get you-"

"At least you'll be safe. That's all I care about." I told him before riding away.

I rode as fast as I could, walkers grabbing my legs and trying to stop the horse. But I pushed through and past the herd. I saw people on the porch and I picked up the pace.

"Victoria?" Glenn and Daryl stood by the railing.

Mum came out of the house. "Carl's gone." she told them before her eyes landed on me.

I shook my head. "He snuck out. He's with dad now." they all stared at me as I went on. "There's a herd of walkers. We need guns and we need people." Andrea came out and I reached for her to give me a gun. "Dad and Carl are in the barn. Go get them."

"Where are you goin'?" Daryl asked, ready to jump over the railings and stop me.

"I gotta go help them." I rode off before any more questions could be asked.

Riding on the horse the gun in my hands I balanced myself as I shot the walkers. Around and around the barn I kept shooting and reloading, the task hard while on a moving horse. The others drove towards the barn, shooting as well and running the walkers over. But we weren't even making a dent...

I smelt the smoke before I saw the fire. The barn was going up in flames, I knew it was dad and Carl who lit the fire.

The RV went around and they got out of there, running for the woods. But the RV was over taken and Jimmy was gone.

A hand grabbed my foot and I screamed, aiming the gun and shooting the walker in the head. But I was out of ammo.

"Shit." I threw the gun on the ground and pulled out the pistol I had. I shot the walker but it was too late. There were already walkers heading my way, grabbing at the horse. "No!" the horse fell, walkers reaching for me.

I scurried back, shooting as many as I could. My barrel emptied so I threw the gun and pulled out my knife, slashing and swishing it around as I continued to crawl away; but they just kept coming.

A walker fell on me and I stabbed it in the head, it's blood covering me. Pushing it off I finally got to my feet and made a run for it.

The cars were heading out. Daryl and Carol were riding away. "Help!" I yelled, walkers running after me. "I'm here! Help!" I cried, still moving. But it was no use. They were gone and I was alone...

**RPOV**

We hid behind the car as a walker went by. Carl, Hershel and myself were on the highway waiting for the others. But we had been there for a while and there was no sign of life...

"I don't know how much longer we can stay here." Hershel whispered.

But Carl was determined to stay. "I'm not leaving without mum and Vickie."

"So, we're just gonna walk away? Not knowing if my wife and daughter, your girls, are still out there?" I questioned Hershel, not believing he would really walk away. "How do we live with that?"

"You've only got one concern, just on. Keeping him alive. Nature may be throwing us a curve ball, but that law is still true."

I sighed, knowing he was right. Even if he decided to stay, the right thing by Carl would be for us to go and find safety.

I knelt by my son, looking up at him. "Carl. It's not safe here. I'm sorry." he looked away from me and I tried to explain, but I stopped, listening as I heard noise getting louder.

Daryl and Carol on his bike. Maggie and Glenn in a car. T-Dog, Lori and Beth in the truck. I smiled up at Hershel as we went around to them.

Maggie got out of the car, running for Hershel. "Oh, thank God."

Lori run to Carl and me. Throwing her arms around us. "Oh, God." she cried happily.

"Where'd you find everyone?" I asked Daryl.

"Well, those guy's tail lights zigzagging all over the road... figured he had to be Asian, driving like that." he shrugged.

Glenn laughed. "Good, one."

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked me, looking around.

"We're the only one who made it so far."

"Where's Victoria?" Lori stood.

I looked around the group, seeing my daughter missing. "Did anyone see her?"

"I saw the horse go down." T-Dog stepped forward. "But that's all. There were too many walkers for me to go get her."

Lori choked, her hand on her heart as her eyes welled up with tears. "My baby." she threw herself into my arms.

"We gotta go back for her." Daryl got on his bike.

"No." I stepped away from Lori, stopping him. "If she made it, she'd be with us. Going back now would be suicide."

"That's our daughter." Lori's voice was full of disgust. "Are you saying you're just going to leave her out there?"

"We need to stick together. Survive."

"What about Andrea, and Shane?" Glenn spoke.

"Andrea saved me, then I lost her." Carol answered.

"We saw her go down." T-Dog added.

"Shane didn't make it." was all I said. I didn't want to go into it right now.

"Patricia?" Hershel asked.

But Beth just shook her head. They got her, too. Took her right from me. I was... I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just..." Hershel pulled his daughter into his arms. "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"

"He was in the RV." I told her. "It got overrun."

"Did you definitely see Vickie?" Lori asked T-Dog.

He shrugged. "There were walkers everywhere."

Daryl started his bike. "I'm gonna go back."

"No." I turned to him. I knew if anything happened to Daryl, Victoria would never forgive me; dead or alive.

"We can't just leave her!" he yelled. "That's your daughter."

"We don't know if she's alive. And if she is, she'd be gone by now. There's no way to find her now."

Lori shook her head. "So, we're not even gonna look for her?"

"We gotta keep moving. There've been walkers crawling all over here." I told them, needing a plan.

"I say head east." T-Dog suggested. "Stay off the main roads."

Daryl turned his bike of, still glaring at me. I could tell he wasn't gonna go anywhere, he was staying. Getting of his bike he moved to the walker Hershel, Carl and I had been hiding from before. "The bigger the road, the more walkers, the more assholes like this one. I got him." he shot the walker with his crossbow.

With the walker dead and everyone on the same page, we got into our cars and headed off.

**Bamby**


	30. Keeping His Word, Saving Herself

**DPOV**

We stood around as Rick tried to convince us to stay put. One of the cars was running on fumes and we all couldn't fit into the other car. We were stuck till morning.

The only reason why I hadn't left for the farm to find Vic was because of my promise. She had told me to stay with her family if something happened. She had made me promise I'd keep them safe, whether she was alive or not. And I couldn't break a promise to her.

"We'll make camp tonight over there." Rick gestured to some stone walls. "Get on the road at the break of day."

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asked me, and I just nodded sticking with Rick.

"What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall'?" Beth asked Rick, the girl obviously scared.

At the mention of the boy I remembered what me and Glenn found. "You know I found Randall, right? He had turned, but he wasn't bit."

"How's that possible?" the girl asked Rick.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asked her husband.

I answered for them, already figured it out. "Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to."

"And then the herd got him?" Lori just didn't get it.

Rick looked at the ground, I could see him trying to figure out how he was going to explain it all. Silence grew heavy as we waited, hoping everything would finally be answered.

"We're all infected." that was not what I expected.

"What?" I shifted my crossbow.

"At the CDC, Jenner told me." Rick went on. "Whatever it is, we all carry it."

We all looked at each other, fear and shock spread like wild-fire though our group.

I turned away, thinking about Vic out there, not knowing this. If something were to happen to her... what if she turned and I had to kill her?

"And you never said anything?" Carol asked. I turned, needing to see Rick when he answered.

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick shrugged.

Glenn shook his head. "You knew this whole time?"

"How could I have known for sure? You saw how crazy..."

"That is not your call. okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told for the good everyone." Glenn was pissed.

"Well, I thought it was best that people didn't know." Rick said, looking to each of us before walking away.

**VPOV**

I ran through the woods, walkers everywhere. Though none of them noticed me. I gathered it was because I was covered with walker blood and smelt like them. I kept running until my legs hurt, and then I ran more. My knife in my hand, ready to kill at any moment.

I looked behind me for a spilt second, the sounds of walkers fading.

"Hey!" looking in front of me so I could see where I was running I saw a truck on a dirt path. "Come on!" I rushed over to the truck, the door opening for me to jump in. I slid in and slammed the door before they drove off.

My rescuer was a man, probably in his late twenties to early thirties. He was tall and well-built. His hair dark brown and shaggy, his face covered in stubble, his eyes dark brown. He looked over at me, his eyes searching my body.

"You bit?" I shook my head. "What's with the blood?"

"It's Walker blood."

"Walker? That what you call them?" he smiled, amused.

"Well what do you call them?"

He kept his eyes on the road now, weaving through the trees. "Roamers." he shrugged. "You got a group?"

I nodded. "But our farm was overrun. They don't know I'm alive."

"So, everyone thinks you're dead?"

"Yeah. What about you? You got a group?"

"There's about thirty of us." he shrugged.

 _Thirty of us... Roamers..._  Randall had been in a group of thirty people and he called walkers, Roamers... Suddenly I thought I was safer out with the walkers.

 

...

 

He stopped the truck by a camp site. Three tents were pinned up and a group of men were around a fire.

"I thought you said you had thirty people?" I asked, still sitting in the car.

He opened the door and got out. "Yeah, but a few of us are scouting the place. The rest are somewhere else." he told me before closing the door. With a deep breath I got out, following the guy to the rest of them.

"Jason." one of the men stood up, looking our way. "You brought a friend?"

The guy who rescued me, Jason I suppose, shrugged. "Found her runnin' from a pack of Roamers. Saved her." we stood by them all now, their eyes staring at me in a way that made me shift uncomfortably.

"Saved her huh?" another man stepped forward. "Think she owes you Jas." he lifted his hand to touch my cheek.

I stepped back and pushed him. "Don't touch me."

They all laughed as they closed in on me. I turned trying to find a way out, but they had already circled me. One grabbed me from behind and as I struggled against him another grabbed my legs.

"Squirmy one, ain't she?"

"Let me go!" I screamed thrashing my body around. It was no use. They were holding me tight, and there was nothing I could do. But I wasn't going to stop.

"Get the ropes." the one holding my legs called. "Tie her up." a few of them walked off before returning with ropes. I screamed and cried and struggled against them. But they didn't budge.

A gun was pressed to my head and I froze. "Now you're gonna do what we tell you. Or we kill you." the guy holding the gun shrugged.

I cried as they started to tie me up and gag me. They tied my hands together, tying the rope to a tree, my arms above my head. They left my legs untied though I knew they'd shoot me if I kicked.

"Who wants first shot?" one of them asked, all of them looking down at me with hungry eyes.

The one who had spoken first nodded to Jason. "You found her. You go first."

Jason moved so he knelt between my legs. He reached forward and pulled my knife out, pressing it against my stomach. "No fightin', okay?"

I cried, the gag digging into my skin. I nodded as he pressed the knife harder.

"Good girl." he grabbed my shirt and used my knife to tear it. Leaning forward he licked my neck down to the valley of my breasts.

"How she taste?"

"Look at them mountains."

"Hurry up, I wanna go next."

All the men cheered and yelled behind him. He used the knife to cut my bra, my bare chest meeting the cold air.

"Oh my, Lord."

"Haven't seen a pair like that in ages."

I cried, his tongue pressing against one of my breasts where he sucked and licked the skin. I could feel his smirk, his hand slowly undoing the zipper of my shorts.

I struggled then, trying to push him off as I screamed against the gag.

Jason brought the knife to the top of my breast and cut me. It was deep enough to leave a scar, but it wouldn't kill me. "What did I say?" he pushed my shorts down, shoving his hand into my underwear. "What did I say?!"

Two fingers pushed into me and I screamed out. He forced them in deeper as he groaned, enjoying this.

"How she feel?"

"Looks so tight."

"Yeah, you give it to her. Give it!"

He sat up and pushed his pants down realising himself. "Don't fight baby. You're gonna like this too." he grinned, the knife sliding against my skin leaving more cuts that would lead to scars.

I cried as I watched him move himself between my legs. He pressed himself against me, and I felt everything come up as I choked on my vomit. He grinned leaning down and kissing the gag, as he rubbed himself against me more, his tip edging in.

At that moment I didn't care if they would kill me. I didn't care if I died. But I wasn't going to let this happen.

Pulling my knee up and slamming it into his nuts he cried out. I shook my head so the gag moved before my teeth latched on to his tongue, biting it off and spitting it out.

He got off me screaming and crying as he held his mouth, blood pouring everywhere.

"You bitch!" one of them men stepped forward. But with one more pull and tug, my hands were free.

I kicked him in the stomach making him stumble back before I grabbed my knife and threw it at him. It dug into his chest as he fell. Grabbing the gun Jason had left beside me I shot down the rest of them. All of this happening in a matter of seconds. They had been caught off guard and now they were dead... except for Jason.

Walking over to him, still bleeding I stood over him the gun pointed to that sweet spot between his legs. "I'd kill you. But that would be too easy." I shot him in the leg and he cried out. "Instead I'm gonna take your truck and leave you here. Walkers would have heard the shots by now, and soon they'll smell all the blood."

I grabbed the ropes and tied him to the tree he was leaning on as he cried and struggled against me, his eyes full of fear.

"Soon you'll just be a meal. But don't worry. If you don't fight. You'll enjoy it too." I stood and walked away, heading for his truck.

His cries and screams called out, insulting me I was sure, but with no tongue it was hard to understand.

Slamming the truck door closed and turning the ignition on, I drove away. There was no one I could trust now. Every stranger a danger, and every loved one gone. I was on my own...

**The End...**

**Bamby**


End file.
